Reflection In Her Eyes
by Sombereyes
Summary: If you met a younger version of yourself, would you take their pain away? Would you show them how to find life, redemption, and forgiveness? Natsuki Kruger and Shizuru Viola would, especially when they find the two lost souls, Natsuki Kuga and Shizuru Fujino. Transgression, obsession and infatuation waits on the other side of, affection, repression and love.
1. Chapter 1

A/N:What do you think happens when you get stuck in an unmoving car, in a parking lot, with nothing to do, for well over 5 hours? This...

Yes, you may all pelt me with tomato... this is another one of those blasted counterpart fan fictions everyone either loves or hates. Morals will be questioned, and fun times ahead...no real description for this, just know it's rated M for many reasons, and not all of them are fluffy...Also, I'm following the anime more so than the manga, but then again, this really won't follow either universe that deeply...The song used for this chapter is called "Reason Why" and it is sung by Rachael Yamagata. I hope you enjoy this first chapter...so, please read and review.

The song in this chapter should be considered Natsuki Kuga's POV...

I don't own Mai HiME/ Mai Otome...I do not own the music either...

**Chapter 1**

"How the hell does this even happen!" Natsuki Kruger, the bearer of the Ice Silver Crystal, sat there dumbfounded as she gazed at the sleeping teen that had been splayed across her desk in a bloodied, bandaged heap. When Aswad's leader came plowing down her door late into the night, Natsuki had expected something, surely, was amiss. However, she hadn't assumed that it was something such as this. In her many years, one Natsuki Kruger had seen many things. Most of them difficult to understand, and highly improbable situations, however, this, was not something she'd been expecting to encounter. "This can't be happening." Natsuki muttered under her breath.

"Come now, Natsuki." Meister Shizuru Viola sighed looking forlorn at her lover, dressed in her robe. "She'll be alright." The night had been a long one, but that wasn't unusual for the women known as Otome. "Leave the poor girl to rest, we can always find out more in the morning." This particular night however, a change in the evening's calm told a deeper tale. Shizuru was confused too, after all, it wasn't often a girl would lay sprawled across a busy street. It would be even more of a quandary when the identity of the girl become something of a puzzle. "She's safe now."

"I'm going to stay here." Natsuki Kruger, head of Garderobe, told her lover, her eyes still on the young girl before her. "I have paperwork I should finish anyway." Her biking leathers were torn, and her motorized contraption was little more than scrapped metal. Somehow the girl had survived, unscathed. "Besides that, if there's any more that follow the black letter, we must dispose of the threat immediately. I'm not dealing with another Otome related incident." Then as if the world fell into her hands, she closed the files into her desk drawer, looking outward into the streets. "She called that beast Duran. It looked exactly like..." Natsuki shook her head unwilling to believe that to be the case. "I thought we annihilated all of those seed things."

"That may be the case, I thought we did too." Shizuru agreed. "However nothing more can be done here tonight. I'd like to give her my inquiry as well, but she's asleep for now." The warm tea she had prepared was long gone, and idly, Shizuru contemplated making another pot. "It's been hours after all. That blow to the head must have really done a number on her." Although weary, Shizuru felt something about the girl. Something comforting, and welcome. It wasn't just in her looks either. Midnight blue tresses fell freely around the her face, her eyes though closed were soft and serene. "She would be you." Shizuru told her partner. "If you were a few years younger."

"I look nothing like her." Kruger growled, her eyes never leaving the sleeping girl. "Aright, kinda."

"Listen, I don't know how she got here, but I think it would just be best if we sent her home." Midori, leader of Aswad told them. She's brought the battered teens here thinking that they were somehow related to the older Otome. She hadn't expected this. "Gakutenou just sort of dragged her out of the portal he normally comes through. I didn't honestly think that he'd bring two girls with him from the other side. I just figured that they were yours. If they aren't, we really should put them back."

"Yes, as if we can really cram them back into the hole from whence they came..." Natsuki muttered darkly. No, this girl, she was something else alright. Something different, and not unlike she herself. "I don't think sending them back would be a good plan, they may suffer from more injuries if we do that." Still, even as she saw the resemblance of the girl that was on her desk, it was the other teen that stirred even more deeply mixed emotions. There was a girl that looked like Shizuru, her body just as bad, if not worse. "Even though they were so injured, they still managed to call those...things." The satellite images told of stories that Natsuki Kruger didn't dare think about.

"I would like a word with them too, really." Midori said softly. "Their beasts are very much like Gakutenou, but I don't see them having any of the cybernetics that I have, or the implants. I want to know how they can call these beasts so easily, without the same stuff I'm using."

"You aren't the only one with such concern." Shizuru said softly, sighing as she knew she wouldn't win. "If we must wait, then we shall wait." Still, she felt at odds with herself, and that wasn't the only problem. "This doesn't fall under Garderobe jurisdiction, we can't act rashly."

"It was in Aswad's territory." Midori said, the obvious falling from her lips. "I say that it's yours too."

"Even if you say that, we must still follow protocol." Shizuru began before Natsuki stopped her.

"No, I agree that this is delicate. It wouldn't be right to alert the other countries until we know whats going on. We keep this hushed for now." There was something about these girls, and she wanted her own answers first. "Let them sleep, but when they wake up, I want to talk with them..." Natsuki replayed some of the images on the screen. "They don't look like terrorists...they look like the freaked out teens that they should be. The fact that they scrapped with you, well...you're not an easy opponent to take on."

"They did a good job trying though." Midori nodded, she'd knocked both girls out like a light. "It wasn't easy, if they'd been at full strength, and not so beaten to hell, then I'll bet you anything that I wouldn't be standing here right now."

The girl on the desk twitched every so often, as if she were in a dream. Her breath had started to become uneven, shuttering and hesitant they came out forced, and staggered. "...Uru." She was barely grasping at coherent thought, and even then, it was muddled.

"This isn't good." Natsuki sighed, the body on her desk twitched again, her hands clutching air, a whimper of pain cracking from the pained figure. "Looks like she's beginning to wake up."

"...Shi..."

"I really think we should alert Yohko." Midori whispered, that had been one of her goals as well.

"No..." Natsuki Kruger denied the request. "I won't put anyone in possible danger."

"What danger..." Midori sighed, looking at the form of the one who sought to wake. "The poor girl's laying there on the verge of death."

"Zuru..." It was the only thing that came out in muttered breath, her body began shaking from pain, and all the others could do was watch. Unsure of what they should do, unknowing if this child was dangerous or not in such a state. "Shizuru!" Came the pained broken scream that store though her lungs, blood dripping from her mouth as she bit her lip, though her eyes were still closed. "Shizuru!" She cried out again, panic setting in as her body shivered violently. "God, she's dead." The girl shook some more, her voice finally breaking completely, tears falling from her eyes, turning pink as they mingled with her blood. "God...no...no Shizuru no!"

Natsuki Kruger couldn't watch as the girl called out in agony. Nudging her partner she gave the go ahead to take action, though she stood at the ready, unsure of what she was witnessing.

"It's alright." Viola sighed as she took the girl's hand in hers. "Calm down, it's alright now."

The pale, pained face contorted in agony as she tried desperately to open wet eyes, though she couldn't see past her flooding emotions. A strangled cry broke through the air as she forced herself to pull the taller, older woman near her, clinging onto her as if life depended on it. Even then, it seemed as if her tears had only worsened, her crying causing violent coughing, and nearly pure hysteria. It was not the first time Natsuki Kruger was glad that the office was sound proofed, however, this was the only time that she found that it was serving the intended purpose.

Her ears were another matter, though, and she couldn't do anything but stare at this child, wondering not only who she was, but what the hell the girl had just gone through.

…  
(Natsuki Kruger, POV)

I saw her tears fall from her eyes, this younger, frightened version of myself. She was calling for Shizuru, and somehow I knew it wasn't mine, but hers. I felt lost looking at this girl, who's tresses of hair were darker than mine. Her eyes shone with the emotions I myself hadn't seemingly used in a long time. I have cried before, but not quite like that. It was then, I realized, that if this girl was me, that is to say, if she was anything like I had been...then whatever it was that she'd seen or gone though, it must have been horrifying. Still, I could not help but watch in awe, as my lover, my partner held the young one close, the protective embrace not nearly as warm and inviting as we both hoped it would be.

You know, I'm not all that young anymore, but I'm not old either. We're both nearing our late twenties, and without children...so, seeing these girls as we have...I can't even recall what it was like at that age, always struggling to find something to fight for. Once finding it, there's an entire slew of questions that come with it, and surely, these girls found some of them, but at what cost? What price did they pay, and why in gods name, did they land on my doorstep, that of Garderobe academy, by the hands of Aswad's leader...

How did this get so messy, so quickly. I can't say I know.

My eyes fell to the sleeping form of the other teen. Both of them had to around the age of high school, likely their final years, or so. I'm not quite sure. Still, fawn tresses should never be stained such a crimson color. No, if her Shizuru is as mine is, then only her eyes, ones of depth and beauty, should be such a color as that of war and bloodshed. It should be a symbol of her danger, her raw and inspiring beauty that transcends the test of time, and excels past the laws of normality.

My Shizuru is indeed that stunning, and I can tell, even when the girl is as battered as she is, that she holds the same truth in her eyes, though right now they remain closed, and so, I am unable to show my proof of this. Still her orbs, if they are the same as ones I know so well, are perhaps darker, but no less real. The fires of war, they've bathed in it. You can't mistake the smell, and these two teens are drenched in it. The smolder of fire, the soot and ash of carnage, the blood of both allies and enemies, least we forget, the weary forms of companions lost. I've seen my own fair share of battle, all Otome do, I guess.

Still, these two, they're different, yet strikingly similar, and I wish to know why.

Why do they, at such a young age, share the battle readiness of seasoned fighters. Why do they look like they've seen just as much war as us, perhaps, even more than us? Why are they broken, bruised, and so very lost in the pit of despair? Why have they come here, unintentional though it seems?

I have so many questions, but not any answers. It seems I'll answer them later. Now that the girl has passed out again, I doubt I can ask her what I need to know, so I guess I'll wait a little. Feel out the situation...and call the professor, the blood wasn't just for show, the kid is really injured badly, and for some reason, I can tell Midori's right about one thing.

These girls, they aren't a threat.

…

It was inside of a gray room that she awoke, the windows boarding across the top of the wall, letting only the faintest of light in. She knew she was in a basement, her head throbbed painfully, and her staggered mind couldn't place where she was. Only that she was wrapped in bandages, fresh ones. Her blood had not seeped through the cream colored wraps that covered her body in some places, and in others obscured her view. She couldn't remember much, but what had drifted into her mind was the only thing keeping her from bounding out of the room like a bat out of hell.

She'd heard her voice...Shizuru was safe, and likely well.

At least, that's what she thought. Who else could have cared for her so well, looked after her wounds when they were so bad? Who else could have found them protection, and held her so near, when she'd fallen apart last night? Natsuki Kuga didn't find any reason to question it, her mind was hopeful for something good to come out of everything. "Good, you're awake." A voice, one not unlike her own spoke up, and in Natsuki's scattered mind, she fought to place where it had come from. "Can you move?" The voice spoke again, and painfully slow, Natsuki nodded.

"Good." Then, the woman came into view. Puzzled, worried emerald eyes gazing into her...it was as if she was peering into a mirror, and Natsuki gulped as she fought to remember this face.

"When I find Midori, I'm going to kill her." Natsuki said then, her voice in disbelief. "I must be dead..."

"Or, just drugged." The older woman said softly. They'd pumped quite a concoction into the girl now that she thought about it. It wouldn't have been surprising if the child honestly thought she had been killed. She had a horrid smack to the skill when she arrived, and though she'd passed out again and again over night, she'd not fallen deeply into a coma. "My name is Natsuki Kruger, an Otome here at Garderobe academy. Does any of that mean anything to you?" She kept her tone as calm as possible, though, it was clear that the girl laying in the bed was just as lost and confused. Interrogating her would likely prove fruitless.

Natsuki shook her head. "Where's Shizuru?" Natsuki questioned, her throat burned with pain she could quite describe, her head pounding just as badly.

"The same as you." Kruger said then, her eyes looking outside of the glass room, and into another, where the other girl had been resting. "Though, she's still sleeping, she hasn't woken up." The prone girl on the bed looked defeated at that. "Hey, it'll be alright." She pulled up a chair, sitting next to the teen's bedside. "Can you tell me what happened?" As she said this, she pushed one of the buttons on the machines, it was the one that dispensed pain medicine.

The girl just sighed. "No...I can't." She couldn't recall why's or how's. "All I know, is that Midori...wasn't my Midori. Not the one that I know." The reality of the truth sunk in then, and fresh tears began to trail down the sides of her face. "And that means, Shizuru..."

"Wasn't the one that you know." Kruger nodded, finishing what was clearly too painful to say, in more ways then one. "Her name is Shizuru Viola. She is also an Otome, and the person who brought you here was quite the vagabond of sorts. The Midori of our world pulled you here by mistake, I believe. You came through the portal."

The teen nodded. "Gakutenou. It appeared, although, the fighting is done." There was an all knowing sense as both pairs of eyes met each other. "It went on a rampage, and we couldn't stop him..." The emerald pools accepting an unspoken agreement. "My name is Natsuki Kuga, and I'm a HiME." When perplexed irises gazed onward, the young girl simply sighed. "My back, lower left side. If you look there, you'll see a red mark. It shouldn't be there, but I know that it is."

"What is a HiME?" Kruger asked, as she lifted up part of the dressings, trying to find the elusive little mark, seeing it hidden in the shadow of the bandage. "It must stand for something, so what is it?"

"Highly advanced materializing equipment." Natsuki coined the phrase spoken to her many times before. "For short, it means I can pull guns out of thin air, and...my companion, something we call a child, fights by my side." Natsuki shook her head, she didn't want him back, though she'd called to him many times in her heart. "If you want the long answer, I don't even know where to begin, although, the fighting ended, in the other world."

"Yet, this power came back when you arrived here, of all places?" Kruger sighed as the teen before her nodded in grim fashion. "Well then, Natsuki, I take it you find that to be a bad thing. Tell me about this power, why does it trouble you so?"

"A HiME can only have this power, when emotion runs deeply through them. They have to have someone most important in their lives. The love and devotion they have for that person, that, in essence is what makes a child become apart of the HiME in question. They seek like minded masters, who's emotions call out for one person, and one person only." That part was easy to say, though she suffered a coughing fit after...she didn't want to say the next part, and yet, something stirring from within told her that she should. "However, the catch is, if your child is destroyed, that is to say, you lose the fight...you lose the one thing most important to you." Natsuki could see the understanding. Kruger, she knew the rest.

"They die...if you fail..." Kruger frowned at that. She knew now, why the familiarity was so real. "That girl, she is most important, for you...I take it?"

"Yes." Natsuki said softly. "But, it isn't that easy." The truth was, she could still feel her power, so she knew Shizuru was alive. "She isn't gone...she didn't go to oblivion, and neither did I...so that means we'll be okay."

"The Otome share a burden much the same." Pulling on her ear, she showed her little stud. "This is what gives me my power. Like you, I can pull forth energy, something we call a robe. There is something called a Meister, and they serve our royalty in times of war. However, should an Otome die, so too will the master that they serve. The give and take goes both ways, and so, an Otome becomes devoted to the person that they serve." The teen had already seen so much anger and hate, of this Kruger could tell. "I feel it best that you rest for now."

…

And rest she did. Natsuki Kuga healed, slowly over time. In a matter of days, she'd been able to talk around on her own, after that gradually, she regained her strength. Still, her defeated emerald eyes held no light, all of it lost to the dark void of shadow. It was a madness, in some ways, and others, it was a numbing cold that seemed all consuming. She would stare at the sleeping form of one, Shizuru Fujino, waiting for her to awaken. She knew Shizuru couldn't possibly be dead, the heart monitor told otherwise. Beyond that, the powers Natsuki held, the understanding it gave, was that Shizuru was very much alive, and kicking, though the depth of sleep was a deep one.

As time went on at a dragging, slow pace, for Natsuki Kuga, who would not eat, hardly slept, and refused to let herself smile, It was not that way for everyone.

No, the Otome were heard at work, planning, understanding the situation as best as they could. Although, it was with a defeatist attitude that they came up with one simple conclusion. Neither of the two girls would be going home. Not only was finding a way nearly impossible, but as long as one student remained out could, there was little that could be done. Dwelling on such matters wasn't really something they had the time for, and even if they did, why spend time wallowing in such disgusting truth? They didn't have the luxury, nor the time to devote to such details. Still, they could not let the teens wander free in this world either, it would be a danger at best, a security risk for all involved. They knew this now, having seen her power up close.

Duran...

She called him forth in the battle with Midori, but he also lingered when she sought him as a friend, a companion. He would follow her endlessly, as if he wasn't just a robot, some machine for personal gain, though that is what he looked like. He was, however, not a living creature. He didn't eat, never needed sleep, and seemed to guard Natsuki with his very being. Even as mechanical as he looked, his emotions were clear as day, something uncanny, but still quite apparent. Who could escape with that logic? Who could, after all, play with the fire so easily?

"Hey..." Kruger said as she'd come bearing gifts of food, but she could see the darkness laced within the eyes that gazed up at the sun, as if praying for help that would never come. "You really love her, don't you?" Her voice was soft, her words a gentle whisper upon the breeze. As if saying the thought any louder would shatter the girl already wrought deeply with scars. "She'll be alright." It was the hope at least.

"I never told her." The young one said, her fists clenched at her sides. "I was always afraid to do it, so I never told her, because I always thought she knew."

Kruger set down the mayo covered burger she'd brought over from the mess hall, putting her arms around the shoulders of the younger woman. Why she did it, she didn't know. Instinct? Perhaps not, she wasn't a mother, and never claimed to be one. Still, as she pulled Kuga close, she felt the warm wet realization of tears, saw them in her eyes, and for not the first time she felt lost in this girl. There was a pang in her heart that she couldn't quite describe. She cupped the tear stained cheek, letting the river flow over her thumb, the pain in waves she was unable to swipe away. There was nothing she could do, she was helpless in this. "I'm sorry." Even the words were empty.

She didn't have the heart to deny the girl warmth, but, she was a cold woman, at least outwardly. Though, she assumed this girl was too. Something had shattered that mask, had destroyed it, unleashing the frozen soul within...but now, it seemed crushed, and Kruger knew that was never a good thing. Even as the tears started to quell, even as the slow crawl of the afternoon loomed over head, there was nothing she could do but wait. "Sometimes, they need to be told." Kruger said knowingly, though it was likely a regret that the girl already carried.

"How can I tell her that, when she only blames herself." Natsuki Kuga said when a sigh made her quake. "When she hates herself for everything, how do I make that go away?"

"I suspect that you don't." Two sets of emerald eyes fell over a tall form, one in a robe. "Though I do think I know how we can wake the girl up." She'd had the thought for a while, but she'd never suggested it, besides the fact it was horridly illegal to do so, she hadn't known if he could trust the brash teen, no matter what she looked like. "However, even if we were to do such a thing, the fact remains that you do pose a threat. It would be a cause for concern to give you power, considering the one you already have is strong enough."

Kuga shook her head. "If you mean your machines, they won't work." She would have known if it was that type of sleep, that type of gone, but it wasn't. Natsuki could feel the unrest in Duran, an angry feeling of failure whenever he came out of his portal. "She's sleeping...induced. I've seen it before, though not as bad." Natsuki shuttered as she remembered the events in the labs, seeing a few of the HiME after losing something important, they became cationic, unresponsive, and no matter what anyone did, there wasn't a response. Some reactions were more violent than others, but it still happened, and Natsuki was sure. "She's trapped, in herself. Just stuck there, only she can get herself out."

"And if she doesn't?" Viola asked then, her eyes looming dangerously, wondering just what was being said, the implications dire ones.

"She will." Kuga said then, a thick layer of guilt making her voice dark with unrestrained determination. "I know that she will."

"Even when she does, what will you do? There isn't any way for us to send you back." Kruger said then, drying the last of the tears that fell from confused eyes. The poor girl didn't look like she knew the answer for that, but then again, who would? "Assuming there is a connection back to your world, through the use of Midori's metal friend, we don't know how many different portals there are, or even if you can survive another passage."

Natsuki Kuga shook her head. "That shouldn't have happened. We can't go back now." She knew that, and she felt oddly serene about the information. She didn't know why, she thought she'd be more tormented by the information, but she just wasn't. "There was a battle only a few short weeks ago. That battle was pretty screwed up, and there's no point to get into specifics. Still, that battle ended with us losing our powers, meaning we didn't have them." Normalcy, that's what her life was starting to become, that is, before the incident.

It was with remorse that she continued. "The Midori from my world, she used Gakutenou to fight. Still, she lost her power like the rest of us. We tried to summon things, just to be sure, but it was impossible. I don't know why he came back, but when he shot through the portal, he wasn't the same one we knew. He was different, changed in a way. All of the others came back too, and they went berserk." Kuga's head hurt to think back, recalling every detail as best as she could. "The thing was, we dealt with the others easily enough, they were just free from our powers, so we found out we could seal their spirits. It was easy, all accept for Gakutenou."

"Our Midori summons him at her will, it seems." Shizuru Viola said, her lips tightening into a thin line. "However, she can only do so for a limited time, that length shortens significantly when she's in battle." Still, that wasn't the connection that troubled her. "A few weeks back, that pet you own, it went on a near rampage in our world after hatching from from something rather large. Almost as if it had been a seed, or an egg. We don't know what caused it, but we were put into a state of national disaster because of it. We did take care of them, but I can't honestly tell you where they went after that."

"Sounds like an orphan attack." Kuga answered knowingly. She knew exactly what caused it. "HiME are strong beings, and they can call upon their child at will. In order to do that, we have to have a strong bond with someone. The orphan generally chooses the HiME, not the other way around. We don't mind though, because a child only picks someone who shares the same wants and dreams. They're a reflection of our love and devotion, I guess you could say. The stronger you feel towards something, the stronger the child, and your powers become." It was the catch that sucked. "However, if they have no one to attach with, they generally run amok, and I mean that in every colorful way possible. They'll eat your underwear if you let them...damned things."

"I thought we killed him." Kruger said then, still trying to grasp at straws.

"He's a spirit, he does reincarnate, but I've got to have a bond for that to happen. I'm here now, and so is he, because for some reason, his spirit hasn't been locked away like it should have been. Either that, or this is where they come every three hundred years." Even if Natsuki Kuga believed that to be the truth though, she still didn't like the implications. "If he's back, I can fight again, that means Shizuru's at risk. The same holds true in reverse, so as much as this may look like a power, it's really little more than a curse."

"If that's the case, become an Otome." Viola said quietly. "The risk is there either way, why not enable yourselves, and protect yourselves as best as you can. If you own a gem, you could protect yourself, you could become a Meister."

"As if I want to trust my life to you!" Kuga growled low in her throat. "Shizuru's out cold right now, and I don't have any way to help her...and you want me to what? Screw myself over even more, ally with you people and your idiot ass kissing!"

Kruger shook her head, she'd expected such a response. Her glare at her lover also indicated she should have known too. Still as she licked her lips to form some sort of explanation, she knew it wasn't worth her time. "Shizuru, go check on the students, I'm sure a few of our little sisters could use some help studying for exams." Kruger nodded and Viola did the same, a wordless, yet fond farewell for now. Then, a few moments passed before Kruger chucked softly. "You can't stand her, can you?"

"She's not Shizuru." Kuga hissed, her tongue like acid. "So I can't stand looking at the same woman who lied to me, making me think that..." Biting back what she wanted to say she just cursed under her breath, her eyes burning holes into the ground.

Kruger knew though, she could see it all too well. "Shizuru grew up." Kruger said softly. "She liked to goof around and tease me a lot, but she did it with everyone else too. When we started...being together...she mellowed out. She still does toss around a remark or two, but not daily, because she loves me, and she knows just how far to take it. She changed a lot for me, as far as things like that go, but I had to do the same for her too. Saying things I didn't want to say, doing things that I hated...I had to open up, and so did she. So many walls had to come down before we could really be together. You two will be like that too, if you put forth the effort."

"We aren't like you." Kuga groused. "We can't be."

"Can't, or won't?" Kruger asked then, standing up from the ground. "That's the real question here. It's your choice, not mine. I walked that path a long time ago, I don't need to do it again."

…

Her eyes were blurry when she finally decided to open them, although, she couldn't recall what happened or why. All she knew was that she was gazing into quite the oddity. Something she shouldn't have seen. "Ara, I must be losing my mind, slowly perhaps, but surely." Red eyes. Deep, blood red irises gazed down at her with intensity, and she had no idea why. It was as if she was gawking into a mirror, and yet, she wasn't. This face was tangible, and it wasn't by any means an illusion. She knew that much, but when she closed her eyes again, wishing she was still somehow asleep a voice much like hers broke through her fog.

"I assure you, insanity is the least of your worries." The voice was quiet, the melody eerie knowing she hadn't spoken a word. Shizuru knew the sound of her own voice, but this tone was different, the ring filled with something she herself could not possess, at least, not in such fluid ways. Wisdom, kindness, understanding. An all knowing aura came from this woman, and yet, when Shizuru glanced again, she realized that it was not far from the truth. Those red eyes were expectant, as if they'd been awaiting for her to awaken. "Welcome to Garderobe, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Meister Shizuru Viola, and we've been expecting you."

"I suppose you have." Shizuru said, lifting one hand that was wrapped in bandages, inspecting her state of health, or lack thereof. "My friend, is she okay?"

"Your lover is just fine." Viola intoned harshly, though the threat was hidden well. "Quite worried about you actually, I do not advise giving her such a scare in the future. It wouldn't due hurting her like that."

"Natsuki isn't my lover." Fujino corrected, though she hated doing it. Her eyes sent forth a menacing glare, a smirk upon her features. "Although, you act as if she could be yours."

"Not hardly child, watch your tongue." Viola sighed then. "You are truly me, aren't you. No wonder my Natsuki couldn't stand it. Such indecisive eyes you have. As if you want me to buzz off and retrieve the woman you love. And yet, you fear what you will say to her once I do. You're an open book, and I see it all. So childish...both of you." Viola scolded, though her own eyes had turned to that of kindness. "You're in need of a bit of a lengthy explanation, and I intend to do so before more damage can be done."

It was with that Viola told Fujino everything that had gone on. From their less than safe arrival, Natsuki's breakdowns, and even explained who the Otome were. Everything down to the last strand of important details. She went over it meticulously and her charge, one who was much like herself, absorbed the information like a sponge, just like Viola knew she would. She'd kept the topics light as long as she could, but delved deeper when requested. She wouldn't withhold information, but she also expected some of her own, her eyes searching for any sigh of danger. The national threat she feared was this girl...

She was sly, cunning, and even her eyes told of deeper sins than could be spoken of. Viola knew those eyes well, even if she wouldn't be able to grasp all that had happened. Their information exchange even dove down into the pit of their obsessions, although, Viola knew she'd come a long way since she'd grown older, with Natsuki at her side. Fujino was still untamed, and unclaimed woman, who sought the arms of only one, and would stop at nothing to get it. The raw hunger, it wasn't hidden when one was gazing into themselves. "You still desire her, but, at what cost?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be by her side, would I?" This older version of herself, this woman was perceptive, and Fujino fully expected a challenge, but she didn't expect such a question. "After all, you took a chance too, didn't you?"

"Only after I knew I was ready." Viola sighed then, standing from her seat. "But you, you're different. I can see the sinner that you are. You can't even forgive yourself, if that truly is indeed the case, how can you love her?" That was what Viola couldn't figure out. "Her feelings for you are unsure, yet pure. Yours, they're just obsession. You'll never win if you keep that up. You'll lose her, one day."

Perhaps, this woman was right, but even if that were the case, Shizuru Fujino knew she couldn't stop the dull pain that squeezed her heart at the thought. She knew it was their determination that kept them friends, but it wouldn't make them fall into the roles of lovers. Natsuki, she was too guarded for that.

"A bird will eat out of open palm. Do it enough, and they will always remain at your side, because it is within their will to do so." Viola's kept eyes of understanding on her as she fingered the doorknob, not yet opening it. "However, if you squeeze that beautiful creature, it'll either fly away, or eventually you'll kill it. Love is never kept by people with obsession that deep."

…

Her fingers ran up smooth bare thighs, breath hitching as she gave the most intimate of kisses. Her lover grasping at the side of the desk, a white knuckled grip, telling more than she would say. She bit her lip, as her lover, practiced and gentle, knowingly parted lower lips with her tongue. Expertly she pulled Shizuru closer to her, her eyes closed though she knew hooded eyes of crimson gazed endless at the ceiling, begging to fly. Her head tilted back in only the best of nirvana.

They'd had so little time recently. The embrace, Natsuki's fingertips, her talented tongue, it was all burning heat that contrasted with the cold wood. Her sex was slick with arousal, the raven haired woman calling more and more desire from her. Natsuki broke the kiss, her lips seeking those of her lover, as her fingers caresses moist womanhood. The only plea she could hear were the shuttering sighs of approval, ones she swallowed in every kiss, blunt nails trailing down her back with the request to feel release.

She would draw it out. Slowly, painfully...temptingly so.

If she had the time, but she didn't.

There were nights she could see Shizuru like this for hours, as they cuddled and made love long into the night. There were others though, when rest was fleeting, and sleep was precious. During such times, they went to bed without affirming their love in such a way. It took it's toll after a while, and if they didn't have the time for long stretches, an uneasiness would wave over them. If they didn't satiate their needs, fear would cloud over crimson eyes, and emerald would find themselves lost in questions she could never answer.

But...they knew this art well.

This sinful dance of two women making love, in the only ways they could. Shizuru splayed across the thick wood of the desk, moans escaping her lips, as her hips bucked to the dance of Natsuki's hand. Dear god the beauty overwhelmed them, the sun hidden behind the clouds, making the room dulled in gray. Fawn tresses mingling with a waterfall of dark midnight. The air held their heady scent, one that was as fleeting as the orgasm that tore through her, the entire time, emerald viewed her with little more than awe.

Yet...that moment was all too fleeting, as a final kiss was given, before they picked up their clothes that had fallen like snow around the desk. Their professional mask back on, work to be done. "What are we going to do about those girls?" Viola asked, pulling her stocking back up her toned thigh.

"I don't know. What do you want me to say? What could we do about it?" Kruger told her, putting her shirt and her coat back on. "Reality is, there isn't much we can do, besides find them a place to say, and get them acclimated to life around here. Perhaps give them to Aswad for safe keeping."

"As if that wouldn't be a huge breech in conduct." That was simply out of the question. "As long as we keep them here, they remain in Garderobe jurisdiction. The second we hand them over to Midori, war could break out. You know this just as well as I do." Her lover had been known to take risks, but that suggestion was completely reckless. "They may prove useful during the elimination talks."

"Because having an Otome isn't enough, so we prepare with stronger artillery?" Kruger sighed, getting the implication. "You know, the reaming Otome power will take decades before the mandates would go into effect, and that's at best." At worst, all of Natsuki's hard work, and long days in meetings would have gone on all for nothing. "Having those girls around may make Garderobe look a bit...pretentious. Especially if word gets out the can actually summon those creatures at whim."

"I would be inclined to agree, if it were indeed the normal case." Viola felt a stirring in her mind though, and it was something to think about. "With proper training, they could possibly become even a better team than we are. I would like to retire some day soon, Natsuki, and fave a few children of our own. Our clock for that is ticking away. You know the powers of Otome limit us greatly in that respect. These girls coming here may not have been a fluke, but even if it were, there's something to be said for how their powers work."

"You mean the most important person, the bond they share." Natsuki Kruger had thought of that at great length herself, as even as she gazed upon her lover, who was currently pulling up silken panties with purple lace trim, sporting a matching bra, it was no question that such a perfect match would never be found again. These girls were to an extent, them. They could only grow more so as time went on. "However, even if we could input such a rule setting into the gems we fashion, it wouldn't be possible to get the masses to truly understand that the power has changed."

"Not to mention, we would be inviting madness." Viola said then, her eyes darkening as she finished dressing, fixing her makeup while Kruger was ridding the room of any possible evidence of their escapade. "Have you seen her? Shizuru Fujino...her name isn't the only difference."

"I want to know what those girls know." Kruger nodded. "They were adults before their time, but what they've seen, it seems as if we're missing something. Words they refuse to say."

"The question is, how far do we go?" Viola inquired, knowing well the dangers of facing down her younger self. "I was a dark person, with very inappropriate ways of reacting, I can admit to that, but she seems worse. She seems as if her fixation on Kuga, is the same basic type of thing that Tomoe had on me. A very tainted, stop at nothing desire. Although, it does seemed to have waned out, as if she's recovering from that aspect. Who known what our actions could provoke."

"I will always love you." Kruger said then, knowing the implication. "However, that's why I can't see her eyes, not the way they are now." Kruger shuttered, the pain in those eyes were so deep, so real. "If you faced me with such a look, you know what I would do." She cursed then, she knew well what it would be considered. "I think...she-No, I know she wants to learn to love her. Kuga seems so lost and confused though, as if she's afraid of it. I can't imagine why, but it's as if she's afraid to trust anyone, and she keeps even me, at some measure of length."

Viola knew quite well in fact. Though, oddly enough, the idea of her lover giving such a thing wasn't exactly something that bothered her. "You're implying we take care of them, break down their inhibitions...get rid of the walls they keep so guarded." Of which, Viola was sure, the girls had many. "Even if that means we ourselves must cross lines we wouldn't dare do otherwise...even if that means..." She didn't want to say it, but Kruger nodded anyway. "Are you sure about this?"

"Are you okay with it?" Kruger shot back. "Are you willing to do that, or would you rather just sit back, and let them deal with this themselves?"

"I can't watch it any more either." Viola hated seeing Kuga so broken, and she knew her lover felt the same about the other Shizuru. Seeing such broken, fragmented people, they couldn't take it. It was eating at them, and the memories of being in a similar, fearful, confused position in their younger years didn't get by them. Still, this wasn't normal teenaged angst. This was far more real, raw, and deadly. The quaking heart of these two young women wouldn't be quelled without the other, and yet, that was a step they both seemingly feared to take. "It's maddening even watching it. I refuse to let it go on, for god knows how many years." If she did, she'd feel guilty. She knew that.

"Anything goes?" Kruger said, affirming the statement.

"Anything at all, to get them to stop this." Viola agreed.

…

_I think about how it might have been  
We'd spend out days travelin'  
It's not that I don't understand you  
It's not that I don't want to be with you  
But you only wanted me  
The way you wanted me_

"I'm sorry..." Natsuki Kuga said as she carefully untied the bandage around Shizuru's arm. "I didn't mean for this to happen." Everything, she could easily call it her fault. They were stranded here because she acted in haste. She knew it was rash when she tried it, but she'd never expected this would happen. She thought oblivion would be on the other side, never a new world.

"It wasn't expected, Natsuki." Shizuru Fujino smiled sadly. "Don't blame yourself. You couldn't have known we would end up here."

Her thumb traced the healing cut, one that had been inflicted during one of the fights. "Shizuru, you need to stop trying to protect me." Shizuru was always trying to be her shield. Natsuki hated that. "You can't keep throwing yourself in danger. It just isn't right."

"So says the one who took one of Duran's bullets for me." Shizuru said then, in a harsh whisper. Her crimson orbs glaring into Natsuki's emerald ones. "How's that wound?" Shizuru asked, her eyes falling on Natsuki's bicep. "Not bad, I hope."

"No..." Natsuki answered back then, her eyes falling to the clean bandage she was wrapping across the still seeping cut. "That healed completely, but Duran wasn't actually trying to kill is, he just couldn't control himself, if he had wanted to kill us..." Natsuki trailed off. "How are your bites?" Shizuru had many of them from Kiyohime.

"She didn't want me to suffer, so her fangs weren't dripping with poison." That could kill very easily, both of them knew that. It was that same venom that had melted Nao's child in one quick bite, during the HiME battles. She watched as Natsuki continued to take off the old dressings and replace them with new ones. "Still, I know my ribs are badly bruised. The one bite, it went pretty deep."

Natsuki nodded in understanding. "Then, you'll need to..." Natsuki's eyes fell to Shizuru's shirt. "So that I can..."

"Yeah." Shizuru couldn't bear to watch the nervousness in her friend's eyes. The red blush was a shameful one, and Shizuru felt disgusting for needing help with this. Still, she hesitated. "Natsuki, you don't have to help me, I can ask someone else if..."

"It was my fault!" Natsuki finally shouted, her own feelings getting the better of her. "Just do it, Shizuru. I should help you...since..." The gash that ran across Shizuru's side was from one of the snake's long fangs. "You got it, protecting me."

As Shizuru let Natsuki lift up her shirt, she took an intake of breath, trying to savor the moment, and feeling sick for doing so, as Natsuki's fingertips ran across her skin before grazing her bandages. They covered much of her body, including her breasts, that were riddled with small cuts and scrapes as well, from the many shards of glass that had gone flying at one point or another. "You'll heal quickly here, now that our powers are back." Natsuki said as she unraveled the bandage. "I'll bet, you'll be out of bed in a few days, now." Her fingers quivered, and it was all Natsuki could do, not to shy her eyes away from each angry mark that had painted Shizuru's body. Natsuki knew she had look just as bad the first few days after waking. "You're reckless, Shizuru."

_So, I will head out alone and hope for the best  
And we can hang out heads down  
As we skip the goodbyes  
And you can tell the world what you want them to hear  
I've got nothing left to lose, my dear  
So, I'm up for the little white lies  
But you and I know the reason why  
I'm gone, and you're still there  
I'm gone, and you're still there  
I'm gone, and you're still there _

"And you weren't?" Shizuru asked then heatedly. "You insisted that I not meddle in your affairs, scared me half to death for all that you did, getting into trouble as you had...then they came back, and you insisted on going after Duran alone!" Her eyes shimmered with anger. "You're an idiot Natsuki...thinking you could do it alone, after you swore you wouldn't do things like that...never again..."

"I didn't want you in danger, Shizuru!" Natsuki shot back. Shizuru's unconditional love was maddening sometimes, so much so, that often times she couldn't find a way to console her. "I wanted to protect you this time, because god knows that you jump into shit, and you never think!" Natsuki felt her eyes growing with fire. "You always lose it when I'm facing danger...but you...damn it Shizuru, you can jump in, and nearly get yourself killed, but I can't? The fuck is wrong with you!" How could she take the pain away, when Shizuru's sins were nearly unforgivable, even if Natsuki didn't care about them.

How could she forgive Shizuru, when the woman would never forgive herself.

"I love you." Her words were an echo, her frown something so painful, her tears so real. "I know...I know you let me stay by your side, because I need that, but its cruel Natsuki." Shizuru sobbed, before hearing Natsuki curse under her breath. "I just...I'm sorry, I'm not strong enough to let you go."

"Did I say I wanted that?" Natsuki asked back harshly. "Always putting words in my mouth, damn it, I hate when you do that." The harsh tone of her voice was softening as she dabbed away Shizuru's tears with her shirtsleeve. "Idiot..." She tried to chuckle, but it failed. "If I didn't want you by my side, do you think I would be sitting here right now?"

Shizuru didn't know. "I'm sorry..."

"Stop it..." Natsuki said then. "Just shut up, Shizuru...your words aren't making sense, and they're doing us no good..." Natsuki said her love wasn't the same. She'd done the damage, but she honestly didn't know if she could repair it. Still, she hadn't pushed Shizuru away either. She was the ice princess, the lone wolf, the hot head who needed her little bubble...she needed that, thrived on it...but Shizuru had broken down so many barriers, and it left her feeling confused. "Let me finish bandaging you, I don't want you to get an infection."

"Why do you let me..." Shizuru asked then suddenly. "Why even let me follow you..." She didn't want an answer fearing the worst. "When you can't even love me the same why? Why let me continue to feel as I do?"

"I can't stop it, can I?" Natsuki wasn't that far out of it. She wasn't so easily thrown off track. "You can't help who you love, Shizuru, even if that person is me."

"It's so twisted, Natsuki..." Shizuru said that so many times, letting her mind rationally kick her heart. She went in circles endlessly about that, about how wrong her love was.

Natsuki was sure the rejection wasn't helpful either about that. "It's not!" Natsuki growled, trying not to look at Shizuru's exposed breasts. "It's not wrong." Her words found difficulty escaping her lips, her mouth dry, and her cheeks tinging in ways she hated. "It just...happened, right?" Natsuki hoped that was the case...begged for it to be so. Shizuru wouldn't meet her gaze, Natsuki detested that as well. "I'm sorry, I'm not the one you need me to be."

"You are Natsuki." Shizuru said, worrying her lower lip. "You are everything that I need, you just don't see that."

"No..." Natsuki shook her head. "I only get you hurt...look at this...I did this, because you love me, and I...it's because I can't always..." Natsuki couldn't be clear. She couldn't always say the things she wanted to.

_I'll buy a magazine searching for your face  
From coast to coast, or whatever I find my place  
I'll track you on the radios, and  
I'll sign your list in a different name  
But as close as I come to you  
It's not the same_

"You can't help that either, you know." Shizuru said, though her words sounded like venom. "Just because we weren't...meant to be...it doesn't mean that we can't still be-"

"Shizuru, you never understand things, do you?" Natsuki felt so lost looking at the injured woman. "I want you by my side, even if it isn't...like that." Although, she would never admit it for anyone else, she knew the truth. "We need each other, Shizuru...I need you, but I just, I can't be a lover. I can't be that person...because...I don't even know how." Still, there was still one indisputable fact, one no one could deny. "But, you are my most important person, no matter what happens. You should know that...always."

"You're mine." Shizuru said then, placing her hands over Natsuki's as the woman finished tying the dressing in place. "Always." Even if that were the case, Shizuru knew she couldn't kill the pain and regret in her heart. She knew she couldn't just be friends with Natsuki, when she wanted so much more. Yet, she refused to just let Natsuki walk away either. They played this game, all the time. One where Shizuru brushed Natsuki off, even when the raven haired girl muddled through kindness. Natsuki tried acting as much as a girlfriend as she could. An occasional kiss, perhaps holding hands...she tried, Shizuru gave her that. Natsuki did the best she could.

But, she wasn't ready for love.

Who would be, after all. Natsuki was frightened of it, and Shizuru couldn't fault her. To give yourself up that completely, that fully, it was pure insanity. The price you'd pay would forever scar you. Shizuru knew that first hand. "I know..." Natsuki said then, her thumb caressing the back of Shizuru's hand. She sometimes wished she could do more, but, there were some things she just wasn't ready for. It had only been a few weeks, after all. The memories, the smell of fire and blood, recovering took longer than a few heated kisses, and regret filled sighs. "We...there isn't any way to go back home."

"I bet the others think we've passed on." Shizuru said, hating the thought. "We probably won't see them again, Natsuki."

"It sucks..." Natsuki said, she hated crying and had done so much of it recently. "I miss Mai already...and that pain in the ass Nao..." Still, the thought of never seeing her friends again, she didn't want to think about that. "What am I going to do without them bitching at me all the time?" The memories wouldn't go away either, they tormented her, and she just wished she could go back, even if it was to say goodbye...even seeing them for a moment, merely one, would have made her happy.

"We'll just have to make ourselves a new life." Shizuru said, more strength in her voice than she had been expecting, happy her conviction hadn't gotten weak along with her body. "Even if we do have our powers back...now we can just...live on, the way it would have been." Shizuru knew it wouldn't be that easy, but it was part of their game, the fantasies...they were safe ways of playing house. "Before the carnival..."

"We can't go back to that time." Natsuki knew better. "I never really paid attention to your feelings back then, it was easier to just be friends, when I was an idiot." She'd been nearly oblivious. "I mean, it makes sense now, all of those jokes and hints, but...if you loved me...love me...we can't go back to pretending that you don't."

"I'm okay, if you ignore it, I won't blame you." Shizuru didn't want to let go of the fleeting touches Natsuki did try to give her, the occasional kiss that calmed her nerves...she didn't want to let go of any of it, but she would, for Natsuki's sake.

"I'd blame me..." Natsuki lamented, as she pulled her hands away, clutching at her jeans that she was wearing, borrowed clothes that were a bit baggy on her. "I'd hate myself, if I did that...even if I don't..." Natsuki felt confused, so utterly lost. "I can't ignore it." Natsuki hated herself for her feelings. She couldn't say she loved Shizuru. Could say it at all...but, she couldn't deny her love either. She was caught between two blurry lines. "That would be really bad...so, I can't do that."

_So, steal the show, and do your best  
To cover the tracks that I have left  
I wish you well and hope you find  
Whatever you're looking for  
The way I might've changed my mind,  
But you only showed my the door _

She couldn't ignore Shizuru's love. Yet, Shizuru seemed intent on letting her go. It was a push, and a pull from both of them. They could make no move. Natsuki couldn't stand to leave Shizuru feeling unwanted, but love was a strong word, with meanings Natsuki wasn't ready to give just yet. Shizuru wasn't any better, insisting often, Natsuki's trying was out of kindness, and not her truest feelings. They were both confused, both so lost within the gaze of the other.

The longing.  
The fear.  
The mutual regret.  
The blame, they shouldered purely on themselves, never on each other.  
The heartache of rejection.  
The cause of every fight.  
The beginning of every spark.  
The pull of wishing something.  
The push of denial.  
The laughter that made their days shine.  
The crying that made the world fall into darkness.  
The feelings both inexplicable, and yet utterly in need of words.  
The redemption.  
The damnation...

It circled around them like a cyclone. They couldn't escape it, but somehow, they always missed the center. They knew if they met in the middle, things might actually turn out alright...but how could they get there? How could they find their way through the horrendous wreckage of the turmoil they caused. They both knew that they wanted to do it, but how? It wasn't easy...admitting the things they'd have to say. Still, the words couldn't go unsaid either. Natsuki shook her cloudy mind free and she edged in for a kiss, her eyes begging Shizuru to accept her plea...

Shizuru considered it...but only long enough to pull herself from her darkest desire.

_So, I will head out alone and hope for the best  
We can pat ourselves on the back  
And say that we tried  
And if one of us makes it big  
We can spill our regrets  
And talk about how the love never dies  
But you and I, you and I know the reason why_

Still, when she denied the request, merely enveloping Natsuki in a hug, that hurt. It felt like a knife, for both of them. A damnable double edged sword. It was worse than any of the pain she felt from her wounds. Worse than the cuts, the bites, even the burns on her legs from Mai's dragon was dull compared to the stabbing pain she felt now. One that lasted only for a short while, before Natsuki backed away.

"I'm going to go get you some food." Natsuki had her eyes closed, the lump in her throat harder to swallow than she cared to admit. "I'll be back soon." She couldn't look at Shizuru right now. This was always how it went during times like this. She wanted to get drunk off of Shizuru's kiss. She wished they could pretend they hadn't just admitted defeat. "I'll bring you some of that tea you like too, so, just give me a few minuets...and then, after you eat...we can go outside, and sit in the sun." Her voice was cracking, but she didn't try to stop it. "I'll push you in the wheelchair all day, and show you around...if you want that."

"Alright..." Her lips moved, but her words weren't heard as the metal door clicked shut before her. Shizuru watched, waited for Natsuki to walk away, but instead, behind the frosted window of the door, she saw Natsuki kneel down, out of sight. She knew the girl was crying, her sobs were muted as she shook. Still, Shizuru herself could give little comfort. "Jesus..." She bit her lip, turning over, putting her face into her pillow, tears falling from her eyes so fully, that she thought she may drowned in her emotion. "Why do we always do this?" She already knew though, and cursed herself, yet again, for failing Natsuki so terribly.

* * *

So, that's chapter 1...hope you all liked it, that's what happens when I get bored. This is likely going to be one of those multi chapter song fictions. :D


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This is the other half of what was written in the car...anything beyond this is not only unwritten, it's unplanned. It likely won't be too much longer though, cause when I was yapping with my buddy about it, I actually hadn't intended it to be large and over the top. We'll see how things goes...in light of this, No idea when the next chapter will be up, (unless, god forbid that stupid car decides to hate us again).

Anyway, that said, the song in this chapter is also a song from Rachael Yamagata, and it is called "Elephants", I thought it was quite fitting for Shizuru's character in general. It does follow a dark theme, although, I would recommend if you haven't listened to it, that you do give it an ear, since the over all tone of the music is actually pretty light, even if the lyrics seemingly aren't so. You can listen to this song, and most of her other music on groove shark.

One final update, I have 2 days off next week, so you can expect that I'll have an update on one of my other stories posted then.

I wanted to thank you all for your support in this fan fiction, and I do hope that you enjoy this chapter. That said on with the fiction.

I don't own either anime, or the song...

**Chapter 2**

As time slipped by, Shizuru recovery went agonizingly slowly. At least, it seemed that way. Shizuru was not fond of having everyone watching her like a hawk. Kiyohime stayed hidden as she always tended to do. She was elusive, but also very large. Unlike Duran, who could manifest in a smaller size, Kiyohime was unable. The issue was a reflection on Shizuru's singled minded focus, and her needs to always fixate on Natsuki. Duran, just like his owner, was more well rounded, and could be flexible in his size. Kiyohime could not. Shizuru always pondered problems like this in her spare time. They were reminders, ones that she didn't like, but yet, gave her comfort.

Duran could, after all, grow just as large as Kiyohime, if not larger if Natsuki wanted it that way. Thee wasn't anything to watch on the television, not that she was fond of the little black box at home. She normally avoided it. The books at her bedside went unread, though she'd thumbed through them often. Even as the door opened as closed, she stared mindlessly at the page in front of her, her lips a thin line, her brows worried in confusion as her book was snatched away.

"You'll get stuck that way..." A husky voice said softly, putting the offending item off to the side, on a nearby chair, well out of reach. "We're going for a walk. I think it would be good for you to go out and get some fresh air. Get you away from the confines of this stupid lab for a bit." Kruger said as she offered her arm, asking if she could escort Shizuru as a man would...no, as a lover would. "Besides, I think we should talk a little bit, I'd like to get to know you."

"I'm waiting for Natsuki to arrive." Shizuru said, shaking her head and putting her hands up submissively. "It was a nice gesture though."

"My name is Natsuki, my dear." Natsuki Kruger said, a pleasant smirk on her face. "Your little friend is a bit busy. Why not join me for a stroll?" She hadn't been this overt with herself in many years, and she felt kinda stupid, but it was apart of her plan. "It can't possibly hurt anything now that you've recovered, correct?" It had only been a few days, but Shizuru was a fast healer, and Kruger could now put her plan into action.

"Flirting with me won't do any good." Shizuru Fujino shook her head, "I have no intention of going with you. I'll simply wait for my Natsuki, then she and I can discuss where we intend to go from here. While I thank you for your hospitality, I don't believe it would be wise to stay much longer." They had to move on, and live their own lives away from here.

"On the contrary." Kruger said then, sitting on the edge of the bed, gauging the reactions of the much younger woman. "It would be best if you stayed. You and Kuga look like us. If someone who opposes Otome tried to attack you, you wouldn't be able to defend yourselves. Dance battles are risky, even if you two are strong, I would question how powerful you are in reality. Our world us unlike yours. Kuga's words made that very clear, and I would hope you know that it's dangerous beyond Garderobe. Why not stay, and we can offer you many things. You'd not go hungry here."

"Why should we stay?" Shizuru asked then, this older woman was quite the intimidation. Stunning, sexy, powerful...all of the things the woman she loved exuded unknowingly most of the time. Yet still, there was a shimmer in those emerald eyes. Something troublesome, and yet, compelling. She'd never seen a look lacing deeply in any set of emerald eyes. Nothing quite like this...all knowing...and something completely willing...seduction at its finest.

"I wish it." Kruger said as she edged closer. "I wish for you to stay where it's safe, just as Viola wishes for your Natsuki's safety..." Then Kruger frowned, feeling a bit ill, thinking of the truth. "She isn't yours yet though, and I can tell that its eating at you. That her lips have never taken you of their own accord, that her hands have never called for you, her soul hasn't completed your own." With a soft gentle smile, she leaned in for a kiss, her lips ghosting Shizuru's own. "I can complete you, if you'll let me." She pulled away then, denying the teasing kiss that had Shizuru blushing hot red.

This Natsuki wasn't her Natsuki...it would never be her Natsuki...never this woman with the family name of Kruger.

Kruger wasn't the one she loved. Shizuru knew that as she looked into those wise emerald eyes that held so much love and acceptance. It wasn't normal. The emerald orbs didn't harbor the fear, nor did they cradle a mere droplet of confusion. Even her body was different. She was taller, more slender, and not nearly as rock solid. No, while she was toned, she didn't have Natsuki Kuga's nearly hard abs. Her arms were slender, and she was soft.

She was a womanly lover, much unlike the Natsuki she knew. Her Natsuki would never wear such a shirt, unless it was a piece from her rather extravagant collection. She wouldn't get caught dead in those low healed blue shoes either...no...this would never be Natsuki Kuga...never in a million years!

No, Natsuki was afraid to get that close. She would show the raw exposure in her eyes. The fear, the trembling in her lips, tentative and filled with questions neither of them had answers for. Her Natsuki preferred baggy, comfy apparel...she was high strung about her underwear, and she'd much rather conceal her ample collection under clothes that hid her beauty, not make it obvious. Her Natsuki, she was so many things that twirled in haphazard glory, always untamed. This woman before her, she was a temptation, surely, but she wasn't the Natsuki she loved.

"You can't complete me, you aren't my Natsuki." Shizuru said then, collecting her wits about her.

"Perhaps not, but I can show you how to get through to that idiot." Kruger felt understanding pass through them, knowing this plan wasn't likely to be as smooth as she first thought it would be. "You come on strong. I fully understand why, but you can't do that. Think about it, I made an advance at you, and you didn't take it. Why is that?"

"It isn't what my Natsuki would do." Really, that had been the only reason she fought so hard, she didn't want to give in if she knew the lie was a lie. "Is your Viola acting as a temptress too?" Shizuru asked then, a bit of bitterness in her voice.

"Kuga doesn't need that kind of help." Kruger laughed, thinking that it would be more a comedy routine than sex, knowing the girl as she did. "She doesn't need to be shown how to love someone, she merely needs a little push in the right direction." By push, she of course meant shove off the highest possible mountain, and beaten in the head with a stick...but, Kruger knew well she was partly the same at that age. "We will help you, Viola is speaking with Kuga, letting her know the same things I'm telling you, however, I'm sure she's taking great care not to come off seductive, the poor girl would likely catch fire."

"That bad, huh?" Shizuru asked, shaking her head.

"Her title, Bewitching Smile Amethyst...lets just say that it speaks volumes." Kruger still shuttered when Viola used a particular voice, and the things she could do with her hands, it should be considered completely and utterly outlawed. "Regardless, if she does that to Kuga, you'll be peeling the poor girl off the floor. That would be counter intuitive." Fujino was skilled, and Kruger had to give her that, she was adept at avoiding conversation. Still, Kruger was trained in negotiation tactics. "However, this isn't about my lover who sleeps in my bed every night that's possible. It's about you and your failed love that keeps destroying you two from the inside out."

"I don't know if that is honestly something you can help us with." Shizuru could feel the idea of hope building in her chest, and she didn't want it to be there, fearing that heartache would be on the other side of that road. "Actually, I would almost prefer if you didn't dabble in it. I think it would hurt Natsuki and I, having others treading on such finely woven lines. Plus, I doubt you'd know where to begin."

"Yes I do." Kruger whispered, deciding that some forceful persuasion was in order, as she grabbed Fujino's wrists, pushing the teen gently to the bed, hovering over her. "I know very well right where to begin...with you right here. You need to let go of that wall, because I can see through it. Even though you're denying me, I can tell part of you wants it." Even as Kruger said that, she could see the boiling of desire begin to cloud Shizuru's eyes, and why not? "You've desired her for so long, that it's kinda sad. Considering, I've seen the love she has for you."

"Natsuki...doesn't love me." Shizuru said, sighing deeply. "I've simply got to learn to let go, but even if I learned to love you, I can guarantee that you would never love me, not with Viola at your side."

Kruger chuckled at that, lowering to give Shizuru a quick peck on the cheek as she let the girl up. "You don't know anything about us Otome, nothing like you should." This was her hangup, that the another woman couldn't possibly love her. It was a small one, and one of many, but it still was the first in the string. "We can't be with men, as I'm sure you know. Within that, sometimes our sisterly bonds we build, they grow into something more. On not so rare occasion, women find lovers within the arms of another, like I did with my Shizuru." Kruger liked that ring in her words, that affectionate little statement. "However, there are times we have to give solace to our younger sisters, who seek out a warm embrace on cold nights. Shizuru, in her younger years had someone do that for her, and then, she did it for me. She became my lover because we both wished it. Even so, I'm not going to cast you aside, and, neither would she."

"However, she wouldn't love me." Shizuru supplied again, disbelieving Kruger's words. "Just as you would likely lack the capacity."

"She could learn to love you, as you would say." Kruger tried to show her honesty. It wasn't that far from the truth. How many times had she and her old roommate gotten week at the knees? How many times had she gotten angry and gone to Shizuru for comfort. Failing all of that, how many times had the far older Otome found themselves giving sexual reassurance for those wished it? Even if Viola and Kruger did it far less often than the others, and never sought it out themselves, it still happened. Never, did they turn anyone away, never denied kindness, warmth, and even love. "Even my feelings for you could become true, however, it must be a wish that you want, that we both desire."

"I desire my Natsuki..." And that was the entire problem, now wasn't it?

…

The battle wasn't much different on the other side of things. Viola wasn't having any luck with this young, and very distrusting version of her lover. Natsuki wouldn't let her get close, physically or emotionally. Sometimes, she'd let loose an admission out of anger, or if she was on the verge of breaking down, but this girl was protected. A strong fortress, and it would take more than simple words to break her down.

"I don't want her to hate me." Natsuki sighed as she pulled her raven tresses away from her eyes. "Shizuru has done so much for me, but she still acts like we can go back to the way things were. She wants me to just ignore it...she feels guilty, you know? I'm sure with her powers back in her hands it's even worse. Now she can look at her naginata again, and remember everything, just like I can with my guns." She didn't like to be cornered, but she couldn't deny she needed someone to talk to, and those knowing red eyes were comforting, in more ways than one. They weren't hungry, they were just friendly...like Shizuru's used to be, back when they'd first met. "How do I make that go away? I keep trying, but I don't know how."

"I doubt very highly you could make that go away even without your power." Viola said slowly, sighing deeply of the fresh scent of cut grass, as they enjoyed the scenery around them. "There are times when even I wonder if I've done the right things. Although, the past is the past, and I can't turn back time. Sometimes, I wish that I could. Still, my sins are my own, and that's something I fully accepted when I decided to become an Otome. Even if my wrath was to protect someone else, the reality is, I would have done it. I could lose my life otherwise, and being an Otome, it isn't easy."

"She killed so many people in cold blood." Natsuki hated that truth. "It was supposed to be mine, my job, not hers. I get why she did it, but that blood belonged on my hands. She took that privilege away from me...looking back, I'm glad she did, but even so..." How could she repay that? There was no price, nothing she could give. "Shizuru's been there for me in ways I can't even begin to tell you, I do love her for that...but is it the right kind of love?" She didn't have that answer. "I've never had to worry about someone like this before, and I can see she doubts me. Why wouldn't she, I guess, when I'm the same."

"No, I'm afraid you can't look at it that way." Shizuru Viola shook her head. "I can see why you're so conflicted. That girl has had a family to raise and guide her. You, on the other hand, haven't had anyone to do that for you. No one showed you how to become an adult, so you grew up before your time." That wasn't her fault. Losing her mother...that did leave scars. It would be inappropriate to assume they'd heal so easily. "Acting as you do, in your case, I can almost condone it. Still, with determination, your feelings can be overcome, they can become apart of what you want. They can enable you, instead of hinder you...but, you must give yourself the chance."

"What chance do I have?" Natsuki growled then, angry at herself, more than anyone else.

"You don't have to play games with me, Natsuki." Her words were cloaked in softness, a tender balance of love and guidance. "You don't have to run from me, because I'm not her." Viola breathed, knowing Kruger would always remain the person in her heart that took up the most space. Yet, there was always room to grow, that's what made souls such beautiful things, in her eyes. She knew Kruger felt the same. She could love this frightened soul, warm it from the cold winter it had faced, heal the pain, and then release it upon the wind. That is what she wanted, to make that pain go away, anyway she could. "I know you will always love her, so deeply in fact, no words can express such a feeling. Still, you must let me become your outlet, you can confess your sins to me, and I won't be like her."

"Because you aren't." Natsuki Kuga said then, though her smile was forced, and filled with agony she'd hoped hadn't slipped through. "I can see the differences. I know you can never be my Shizuru. You can never even compare to her."

"Yes, I know that quite well...but why is that?" Viola asked then softly, her eyes searching those of young, inexperienced emerald. A frown danced upon pale lips, and her hands clutched at the grass they sat in. This was not a look that Kruger would ever sport, and yet, this girl was so easily readable. She was a mirror in so many ways, reflecting what she didn't want to feel. Then again, Viola assumed, in their own ways, both girls were like that, struggling to find themselves, and eachother though the mess of emotions. "Why...?" Viola pressed, seeing that Natsuki was reluctant to speak.

"Because...you're happy the way you are." Natsuki said then, she could admit defeat in a case like this. "In your world, this is okay. Loving another woman isn't bad, you don't get called names here, you're accepted. Even if you are Otome, and it gives you the perfect excuse, Shizuru has never been given blind acceptance. They treated her badly, and I rejected her. That's some pretty harsh damage to fix, but during the carnival, I was scared. I couldn't do that for her. Even when everything turned out okay, it's only like that on the surface."

Viola only giggled at the childlike glare, as Natsuki's eyes bore into the ground. "You're a very interesting girl, Natsuki Kuga. I look forward to spending more time with you, as I hope, you'll do the same in regards to me." As she stood from the grass and walked away, waving at some of the students as they bowed in greeting, she couldn't help but look back just once. What she saw, it made her smile, as emerald eyes, filled with awe, watched her depart. "Very interesting indeed." She said, her words only meant for the wind.

…

It was evening, the sun setting over the clouds as the blinds were closed, only the most fleeting of rays making it through. The warm moist heat from the shower invited her, and she went to go enjoy a quiet evening. One she sorely needed after dealing with someone as exasperating as Shizuru Fujino. She was sure her lover felt the same way. Those days of uncertainty seemed so long ago, yet when reflected in the eyes of those youthful gazes, she realized how naive she'd been. Days seemed to mingle, when you were happy as you could be. One day, or the next, or even the day after...it didn't matter.

Milestones became nearly unimportant because true love, like the love she had, that was timeless.

Through deception, pain, anger...they'd work through it. When someone attacked Garderobe, they were Otome first, lovers second. When the harsh winds of life overtook them, the strong one, at whatever moment it happened be, would protect the other. If they were both weak, broken, lost...they could be so in each others arms. They could fall to the lowest depths and still love each other. They had something...something different, precious...it was a gift. A responsibility...even, in the worst of times, it was a liability.

Whatever it was, it was theirs, and Natsuki Kruger enjoyed such a relationship.

One where they came and went freely, understanding of a mutual wish, yet never an obligation. As she entered the shower, she saw the woman that held her heart, basking idly under the hot rain of the shower. To have and to hold, in sickness and in heath, all of that was apart of them, in more ways than anyone would understand. Their marriage was filled with joyous happiness. Even on days when nothing was going on, and they sat idly with nothing to do, that time was well spent. Enjoyed often, even in the silence of being held.

There were many things Natsuki Kruger had come to understand about her lover. Her eyes close, and her lips pursed, a look of contemplation, one she hoped to interrupt as she entered, pulling the door closed behind her, letting the moist heat fog up the glass. "What's on your mind?" Natsuki asked quietly, fingers playing across shapely hips, before pulling the woman into an embrace.

"I don't think it'll be very easy to get through to her..." Uneasiness, a sigh barely uttered.

"Then don't. The repercussions aren't yours to face." Her words, just as cloudy as her form.

"You say that, but I think you're wrong." She could not see past the steam of the shower, even though she felt the solid weight of the other woman's words.

"Do you really want to taste temptation?" If that were the case, she'd already done it, partaking of forbidden fruit.

"If I did, I'd be sent to hell." Her eyes were that of darkness, beautiful, but very, very deep. Like an ocean of needs untamed, just like the apple that fell from the tree.

"Yet, that wouldn't be all bad..." The ice in her voice was cool, but not uncaring, as she understood the implications.

"No, perhaps not." They both agreed.

"Shizuru, could you be falling for her..." Kruger already knew her answer.

"Even if I was, Natsuki, she's so young. She can't begin to really understand. Her eyes are that of a child." False hope and excuses didn't do a thing to protect her.

"Either that, or, you think she's already seen hell." Kruger could feel everything as she kissed her way up the heated flesh. Her teeth bit into the nape of a soft, smooth neck. She loved this raw honesty, even if wanting such a thing seemed completely unethical. Otome found happiness in very strange places, and this infatuation, and deeply seeded interested found purchase within both of them. "I'd say Fujino is the same."

"More like oblivion..." Shizuru said, pressing into the wall as best as she could for support, a labored breath escaping her lips.

"Even if that's the case, Shizuru, you can't fix everything." The water pelted down around them, an honest, foreboding truth.

"No..." She agreed as deft fingers danced upon her skin, Natsuki's mouth nipping at her, as only a lover would. "I suppose I can't...but, I can try." She breathed.

She had what she wanted, a lover who touched her. Owned her soul, simply by her whims, so captivating and enticing. One who held her though everything, spoke sweet nothings, and begged the same in return. Their needs were shared, primal wants were satiated, and in the dead of night, they'd hold each other in the depths of sleep. Everything, they gave unquestioningly, always willingly. Even when Natsuki's fingers thrust into her heated, soaking core roughly, Shizuru accepted them with understanding. Natsuki's anger, her jealously, and her forgiveness...all gifted upon Shizuru's body in crashing waves. Making the woman of fawn tresses cry out in quiet submission, begging for more, until she reached that which her soul sought after.

Even when lips captured her own, silencing the cries of frustration, and gifting the woman what she wanted, Shizuru knew Natsuki would always love her. Would always protect her. Even now, as her legs trembled in weakness, her lover held her in her arms, sliding them slowly to the tiled floor of their shower, a gentle smile adorning her face. Natsuki's fingers caressed her slowly, bringing her back from the high she'd felt. Natsuki was woman of impeccability, perfect in so many ways...yet, she was a woman happy with her flaws, every blemish one well earned. There was a beauty in that, one Shizuru couldn't explain.

"Shizuru, I want you..." Natsuki breathed, her eyes hooded with need. Her palm cupped her lover's cheek as they sat entwined within each other. "So for tonight, even if it is only one night, don't carry such heavy burdens."

…

Natsuki Kuga found herself tossing and turning in her bed, one that was located down in the labs and hidden away from the other students. She found that her eyes couldn't leave the form of the blurry, dark silhouette of the person she'd come to love. She hated that Shizuru felt ashamed and didn't believe her. Still, Natsuki knew that was her own fault. Sleep wouldn't come to her, not when she felt so guilty. She could see Shizuru was reading a book, but, was she really? Was she enjoying the words as they skittered across the page? Or, was she merely staring blankly at muddled lines that her eyes couldn't actually comprehend? Natsuki didn't know.

She couldn't stay idle though, and she left the confines of her room, one that honestly held no privacy. The only thing keeping her from the outside, simply a wall of glass, just like Shizuru's room. Her door clicked shit as she exited, and the machines around her ran in nearly silent buzz. It left a cold chill down her spine, she hated places like this, and she wanted some air. Sneaking out at night likely wasn't allowed, but she didn't care as she made her way up past the workers that studied little glowing gems endlessly, the same ones Natsuki noticed, ended up becoming earrings. Her feet carried her past the security clearance door, and she swiped the card she'd been given. She couldn't go to any of the lower floors, those were for personnel of highest priority only. The top two basement levels however, those seemed to have students in them, and sometimes teachers.

The air was chilly in the labs, but as soon as she entered the lobby, she found that the warm air seemed heated. Some students found themselves studying, others speaking with employees, and Natsuki realized quickly this was a night class of some sort. She didn't stay around, all of the girls in uniform bugged her. Instead she found her way through the courtyard, and into the school. Most of the doors would be on lock down, but she could still meander the halls and the dorms. Her mind wandered...if she were back home, she'd be passed out, or stuffing her face full of Mai's cooking at this hour. Mikoto always ate a big meal before bed, and inadvertently, so did Natsuki.

Life for her had changed so rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, her life that she knew was gone. She didn't know if that was a good or bad thing, still, her conversation earlier that day pissed her off. If that hadn't made matters worse, it seemed Kruger was also on the prowl to start unwanted trouble. It was because of whatever Kruger did...it was because of her that Shizuru didn't want to leave the safety of these walls. She wanted to stay, and Natsuki, she felt as if she couldn't.

This place called forth memories, and along with that, came loneliness.

"If you can't sleep, that's one thing, but do you really have to set off the alarms in my room?" Natsuki Kruger grumbled sleepily. She'd gotten a call that there was movement in the building, and that movement didn't have a traceable identification gem. Kruger called off the intruder alert, knowing it was likely that this was the case. Still, she was tired, and rather unhappy to be pried away from her warm lover and wonderfully soft bed. "Idiot..."

"Sorry." Kuga mumbled then as she sighed, looking as lost in the building as she felt in her heart. She didn't have the entire place mapped out in her head yet, and she knew now she was someplace she shouldn't have been.

"Well, I'm not going to drag your happy ass all over creation if you won't stay put." Kruger said as she yawned into her hand. "Come on then." She knew she might as well take the trouble maker with her, and put her up for the night on the sofa. At least then the she might actually pass out. She noticed that the girl seemed to be confused, her frown not only one of annoyance, but something more. "What now?" Kruger said then, not bothering to stop. "Have your panties in a twist for a reason, or just on principal."

"Your labs give me bad memories." Kuga said easily, though the hint of what was going on in her head made Kruger stop abruptly. "What?" She asked as the woman didn't make a move, as if thinking about that. "Why'd you stop?"

"I don't know much about you, and you do a good job of keeping it hidden." That much was not only true, it was completely and utterly annoying. "You both do...and that's fine...but, you can't be entitled to your secrets if you insist on wandering around aimlessly." Then, Kruger continued walking again, down past the many doors and offices, then she came to an elevator, swiping her card that granted administrative access, and they both entered the small lift. "In a world like this one, people have to find happiness whenever and wherever they can. That's one of our unspoken rules."

"I'm sure that comes along much easier for you, than it does for me." Kuga shrugged. Merely a statement, but it held an unmistakeable undertone. "I mean, have you ever wanted someone to believe you so bad, that you can't do anything but keep thinking about it? Then, when it confuses you, you can't help but kick yourself, because they don't believe you even more?"

"Not in matters of the heart, no." Kruger said then, her stance very much the same as the young woman next to her as they arrived on the floor of her luxurious abode. One that she shared with her companion, who was either asleep, or miffed that their peaceful night had been disturbed. "Though, I assume each relationship comes with it's own set of problems."

"What do you mean by that?" Kuga, she knew everything was different, but this woman, she made it seem much more poetic than it actually was.

"There was a time, not long ago, that Viola did a few things that would fall under the lines of adultery. She'd had to do them, surely, but it puts a weight on us. She felt guilty for the things she did, and I tried to comfort her." Kruger knew it wasn't the same, but it was close. "We're Otome first. Our love has to be put on the back burner sometimes. On occasion, we have to accept the things we don't want, and the people we hate, because we've made a vow to do so. Viola knew this, but do you honestly think it makes it easier on us? Still, if we want to be in love, we have to accept that part of life too, as much as we may sometimes hate it."

"Why stay Otome?" Natsuki asked then, watching as Kruger entered the apartment, inviting her inside before closing the door, locking the deadbolt, and typing in some sort of code on the far panel. "You could retire if you wanted right, so why not? Then you guys could be happy..."

"Why don't you stop being HiME?" Kruger said then, firing off the question simply and easily. "Why not retire from the fighting now that you're here, and live a safe and happy life?"

"It isn't that easy." Kuga said. "I can never get rid of Duran, even I had wanted that, I know he wouldn't go. The HiME lost there powers on the other world, but even so, you can't just pick up and move on that easily. With ours back, yeah sure, we don't have to use them. Still, if people found out we had this type of thing, it'd be dangerous. We'd have to fight again, you know that. Otherwise you wouldn't keep us on such a tight leash. We're a danger, and you don't like that." They wouldn't be free from protective custody anytime soon, and for one as willful as herself, she found that irked her quite a bit. Natsuki Kuga was knowing for coming and going as she saw fit, and being unable to do it here bothered her.

Kruger nodded. "My parents are king and queen of a nation far from here. Otome aren't used there, and there is poverty and war all over. Some cities are safe and happy, but many of the small villages are not. When I first came to Garderobe, it was so that I could bring power to my father and my older brother, who will one day be king. I'd made the plan on my own, and left, so when I got here, I didn't have any support from family. We were poor, and couldn't afford to send me, but I came anyway." She couldn't forsake that now. "Shizuru also came to further her status, and safety. Otome are symbols of power and authority before all else. Still, when we were chosen to takes our roles here, instead of with our families, we couldn't refuse. We can protect everyone better this way, but, you're right, it isn't easy."

"You chose that, but I sure as hell didn't." Kuga growled out as she flopped down on the sofa. "I didn't get a choice in the matter. I was born with this mark on my back, and you know what's so stupid, is even if it should be there, even if I feel like its apart of me, I hate myself. You don't get how difficult it is, knowing the crap that's stuck inside my head like a damned horror movie." No one could know that. "If Mai, a friend of mine were here right now, she'd go off on me, and call me names for worrying her." But, Mai wasn't here...and as much as Natsuki wished she could be, it wouldn't ever happen.

"I believe our world has many similarities." Kruger sighed, giving up on the idea of sleep as she took a seat in her recliner, pulling back the lever. "I could sit here and talk about my ideas with you all night, hell, I'd bet you'd make better company than most people when talking about things like this." However, even if that's what she wanted to do, there would be time for that later. There were other pressing matters at hand. "Listen, I have reason to believe that everything you say is true, and, even though you got stuck here, that you're not a threat. Others won't see it that way. Besides, even if you went out on your own, you probably wouldn't find anything you like."

"Just what are you getting at?" Kuga sat up then, watching the pair of eyes that seemed to regard her with careful understanding. "I don't want your games."

"Who says I'm playing a game?" Kruger retorted with a shrug, she didn't much care for things like that either. "The truth is, you have abilities that are powerful. Weapons that can be used for something positive. Every time I call out for my robe, I do so with the intent to make the world around me a better place. Otome are powerful weapons that have been abused in the past. Treaties are now in line to limit the amount of Otome one nation can have, but there are also treaties in line set up to put power limiters on particularly strong individual Otome as well. I doubt that we could put that same limiter on you however, and that is a cause for concern. Not even our Midori can call out her beast as much as you do...and Aswad isn't exactly our friend, though recently I've come to understand they aren't an enemy either."

"You can't make a HiME." Natsuki said then, trying to understand what Kruger was saying. "It may not exactly be impossible, but you'd start a huge war if you tried. HiME are made to destroy things. It goes down into the very core of our being. You guys are trained to kiss ass, with your 'yes master' and all that crap. HiME don't work that way...oh no, that's entirely different...we get greedy, vengeful...and we do stupid things when our lives are on the line. The mere idea that there's a threat and we go ape shit."

Kruger nodded, she's suspected something along those lines. "However, that's not what I want. Having a new power, or even a hybrid Otome would be nice, however, that's not the goal I have in mind." No, she'd put thought into this, and her idea went along different theories. "There are some of us who need strong authority. People like myself, and a few others. If there were a way to contract the use of that beast you have, say, have a way for me to call upon it during times of distress, I'd be inclined to ask for your help."

"Even if I wanted to help you, that's not my choice, it's Duran's." Natsuki's stance was noncommittal at best, out right refusal at worst. Still it was her child that made such a choice, not her. "However, he can't be called without a most important person. That means, of course, that you can't call on him without a person's soul to bond to him. You'd have to feel so deeply for the person, and also, be a match for him at the same time." Kuga shook her head. "What you're asking here, is just outright stupid. From what you're saying, not all Otome serve their soul mate."

"You may say that, but he did show me his true power when he decided to run amok." Kruger said again, her words weren't begging for help at all, but she knew Kuga got the message. Something bad had happened in the past, and Duran could prevent it from happening again. "You help me, and I'll give you a Gem, nanomachines, and even citizenship in the boundaries of Garderobe. Granted that it isn't much, it'll keep you from being arrested outside of our boarders. In return you'll serve Viola and I, going on the missions that we, unfortunately, often have to take. It's a win win situation. I can keep my wife here where she's safe, and you don't have to be a thorn in my ass all the time. How does that sound?"

"Again, it's not my choice, it's Duran's." Kuga growled out. "But, if you can convince me and him, that you really need his help, I'm sure he wouldn't mind binding to you as well. There are times when he goes missing, and I can't feel him, there are others when he won't leave my side. Duran may look like a robot, but he's a real friend, and he thinks like a living, breathing creature. You gotta remember that, or he likely he won't bond the right way. If that doesn't happen, his powers weaken."

"Tomorrow then." Kruger said as she stood up from her chair, pushing the footrest back into place as she did so. "I'll take you around, and show you the networking of this place. I'll explain why we need his power, and, with any luck, by then, you'll be convinced that we do actually need powers like his."

"Can I ask you something..." Kuga said then, her tone mumbled and slightly aggravated.

"Yeah..."

"What's it like...being with her?" Kuga's words were slow, as a deep red blush covered her face. She honestly had been wondering that for a while now.

"Like, sex, or otherwise?" Kruger smirked, that shade of red was nearly criminal. She knew she wouldn't get an answer, but she didn't expect one. "It's...nice, and I think it just fits."

"Even when it's hell?" Kuga asked, searching for something more.

"Yes..." Kruger nodded, her words barely a whisper. "Even in the most unholy of nights." Then she realized it was an invitation, one she might not ever get again if she didn't take it now, and so, she joined the girl on the sofa, sighing as they both watched the floor. "It's okay...to be scared of it, at first." Kruger knew that truth well. "Even now, there are things that scare me about being with Viola...things like, what if she can't come back one day? Or things like, what if she gets hurt out on a mission? It scares me because I love her, she's my wife, and I never want to see her get hurt."

Kuga nodded. She was completely terrified, but it wasn't Shizuru that scared her the most. "What if I totally mess things up?" That's what she worried about the most. "When she made jokes it was uncomfortable...and it was weird when we kissed the first few times." Honestly she wasn't sure if she liked it, the new sensations setting her body on fire and her mind spiraling into haphazard confusion. It made her weak, the feelings in her chest, and Natsuki Kuga, if she hated being anything at all, it was being seen as such. A weak, person, or even worse, a failure. "So, how do I make myself okay with it...with expressing it, I mean?"

"Just go slow." Kruger said then, it was advise she herself had taken at first. "I know what it's like. The pressure of a relationship, the feelings of having to hit third base as fast as you can, because hell, you're at that age when it seems like it's important. Truthfully, it isn't." However, that was the world they were in, when youth jumped ahead before feeling out the waters. "If your in for the long haul, that's not how it works. If you can make a few things more like a routine, and less of a shock, it might help...you aren't really at that level when you need to spice things up anyway. You just need to become comfortable showing her how you feel."

"That's the hard part." Natsuki Kuga said then, putting her face in her hands, trying her best to pull herself together inwardly. "This might sound stupid, but that idea scares the shit outta me."

"What part of it?" Kruger said then, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder, turning the girl so fearful emerald met those of understanding.

Kuga felt a knot in her gut, one that had always been there during times like these, when confessing her darkest secrets seemed like a near travesty. Still, if she could not say it now, what could make her say it later? Here, she was safe and protected, by one so much like herself, it would make sense to say it. "I don't want to lose anyone I love ever again...if I say it, and admit it...and then I lose her...just like I lost mom, and now...all the people back home." Natsuki couldn't say anymore, didn't dare as her voice quivered. "It holds me back, even if I don't like that it does."

"Alright..." Kruger said then slowly, trying her best to understand the situation. "So, by that logic, if I were to kiss you...like no qualms, open mouth, tongue action kiss...that wouldn't bug you at all?"

Natsuki shook her head. "It would bug me because it's weird...but not because you're a girl...if that makes sense. You look like me, so that's like kissing myself. It would be...uh...yeah."

"Weird or not, it might help you get over this...thing of yours." That's what it was. An enigma, a difficulty of sorts. "I think it goes deeper than just being afraid of being in love, because everyone feels that in some ways. The fact you think affection feels weird before you've even tried it could be a problem. Then again, one thing I've learned with Viola, is don't knock it before you try it. You'd be amazed what I let her get away with, but I trust her, and love her, and most of it feels pretty damn good."

"Do you really think that I'm that bad?" Natsuki Kuga asked then, feeling another wave of guilt over her.

"Not bad exactly...but..." How could she put it delicately, because that's what the situation demanded. "If you intend on seeing past the barriers, then just with what you know...things you've done before, that you'd like to do with her...just take a chance." Then Kruger shook her head, a tad uneasy with her line of thought. "Anyway, experimenting isn't always a bad thing...but it can sometimes be a bad thing, finding yourself within the arms of someone who's just as confused as you are."

"So, if I'm going to do it, do it with someone who won't get hurt." Kuga said then, though she didn't like that admission at all. She nodded, she got the point. "I think...I might have an idea, that I'd like to try first...before we resort to...uhh...that." Although, she had a feeling her idea, much like many others she'd had in the past wouldn't do much good.

…

_If the elephants have past lives,  
Yet are destined to always remember,  
It's no wonder how they scream,  
Like you and I, they must have some temper_

She hadn't slept well that night. Still, she'd come to expect it. Shizuru was being released from medical custody today, meaning that she could walk around freely, without everyone having a heart attack about it. She desperately needed it. A way to just think, to reflect, and to do it by herself. Away from the beeping monitors or the students talking to Yohko on their breaks, normally being loud and very boisterous. For the first time since she arrive, she left her room without someone following her. Her legs trembled, but she felt victory as she forced herself to take every step.

It was futile...she soon realized...to rejoice without realizing that she still needed help.

She couldn't change her bandages on her own, though she'd been nearly healed, there were still a few particularly deep bites that needed gauze. She sighed in breathy anger, her body as nude as it could be, and she examined it for any signs of scaring. Thankfully, it would be minimal at best, still, the mere thought of a blemish bugged her, knowing where exactly they'd come from. Shizuru was more or less perfect as a teen, she'd never been caught unguarded, but, after being so badly wounded, she hated the mere idea that she hadn't had a proper shower followed by a long, relaxing soak.

Her body longed for the idea, and her mind wanted an escape.

The showers in the labs were normally faculty use only. With three, very open stalls, and a communal bath, there was no place she could hide, though, she didn't much care. She was a beautiful woman, she wasn't void from that fact. Men loved her, women wanted to be her, and the appraising gazes of the fairer sex, should they be interested, coaxed many a blush, back in her earlier years. All of the other girls suffered with coming of age, and Shizuru did too, but she was far more quiet about it. Natsuki, well, she was the interesting one.

Natsuki Kuga was, after all, one of the most troublesome students in all of the high school.

Her fans knew her and her rebellion. She stood out like a sore thumb, and haphazardly made her way through each and every set back, her face normally redder than could be considered healthy. There was plenty of laughter to be had at Natsuki's expense. Stolen panties, a now run on joke that would likely never ebb, at least not in Shizuru's heart, was only one of many. How many times had Natsuki gotten ill, had needed Shizuru by her side, even though she voice adamant disapproval? How many times had Natsuki let kindness slip in her fever induced hazes?

Shizuru never had such a problem, even while taking a shower, those who ogled her, did so from afar. That was perhaps why she found it very odd, if not completely out of the realm of normality, when Natsuki came to stand along side Shizuru on this early morning. Granted, the younger woman was under her own shower, and they had some level of personal space...still, it didn't change the fact that Natsuki was here. Taking a shower, naked.

_And I am dreaming of them on the plains,  
Dirtying up their beds,  
Watching for some sign of rain  
To cool their hot heads._

Shizuru's lips tightened dangerously into a thin line at that observation.

It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the gesture. It meant Natsuki hadn't completely taken her malicious actions to heart, and Shizuru was thankful for that. Still, it left her confused as she watched the woman of midnight tresses lather thick, rich suds into her hair, all the while keeping her eyes closed absentmindedly. "You're awfully calm considering..." The woman of fawn said then, testing the waters of safe boundaries and forbidden discussion.

This had happened before, surely, but Natsuki never barged in on Shizuru. It was always, without a doubt, the other way around. If that wasn't enough, normally, Natsuki found great dismay at having her personal bubbled disturbed...she never liked having eyes fall on her.

"Considering what?" Natsuki said then, letting the water rinse away the milky white suds that cascaded around her like a waterfall. Her face was already pink from the implication, and Natsuki knew what Shizuru was worried about. Still, she didn't dare assume outwardly. Jumping to conclusions, even if they were the right ones, always made room for trouble later, and that wasn't Natsuki's goal. "They don't have any place to shower that isn't swarming with a crap ton of other chicks...here, at least you're the only one that sees me." It was mostly true, the students were using all of the bathrooms before they scurried off to do the morning cleaning.

"So you would rather shower with a pervert." Shizuru said then, knowing she was putting herself down. Still, there was truth in the statement, seeing Natsuki this way, so unguarded, nearly inviting...it did bad, unpleasant things to her mind. She didn't mind making jokes about Natsuki, or even being a bit crass about what the two of them should be doing together. Still, seeing her naked was as if it was an unspoken taunt. As if Natsuki was provoking her to do something she may regret, and Shizuru felt for not the first time, that fire burn in her heart and her belly. She wanted to touch Natsuki, and to do so without permission, still, she held back.

Natsuki was allowing her to watch...and she found that she couldn't avert her gaze...she felt sick for doing it, though she tried desperately to focus on her own routine.

_And how dare that you send me that card  
When I'm doing all that I can do.  
You are forcing me to remember  
When all I want is to just forget you._

Several long moments went by, and Natsuki knew she was stirring particularly lustful thoughts within Shizuru. Did it bother her a little? She'd by lying if she denied it. She was new at this type of thing, this type of invitation, yet still she felt as if she'd taken the proper advise to heart. Besides, it wasn't as if they hadn't shared a shower or a bath before. "You aren't a pervert, Shizuru." She was human, dear gods they both were. "You're perfectly human, and last I checked, we're women who like other women. It would make sense that we...we would want to...you know..." She still felt the pull in her mind, the drive to bolt. The fact she hadn't yet was by sure force of willpower, and her mind screaming to not be teased. The moment Shizuru made one off color remark, was the moment she'd flee like a bat out of hell, but for now, everything was still where it should be. "So...it's okay...if you..."

Shizuru shook her head. "It isn't the same way, Natsuki." The raven girl had indeed said so herself at one point. "You don't look at me with the intent that I do you."

"What way would that be?" Natsuki said as she finished washing her body quickly, turning off the spray that kept her warm, reaching fer the towel she'd brought with her.

"You know what way that is." Shizuru said huskily, trying, and failing to swallow the lump in her throat. "You know what I think about." Guilt laced her voice more deeply than she'd wanted, and mentally she kicked herself for letting that mask fall. "If that doesn't make me a pervert, then I don't know what does."

"People think about that stuff...it's normal." Natsuki said, sighing in a bit of relief now that her form was covered, but only because she still wasn't completely used to someone eying her in such lights. "I...I don't like thinking about it...but sometimes...I do. Everyone in this world does, so if that makes you anything, it makes you normal...I don't like that you put yourself down all the time like that. You're my most important person, that means I do care about you, and that also means I don't like it when you talk like that."

"How else am I supposed to talk?" Shizuru asked then, heatedly as she slammed her water off, looking at Natsuki with defeated eyes. "How can look I at you like I've just done...how can I do that, and be okay with it? Because in my head, I can't look at you, and think 'she's mine' like I own you! I hate feeling like that, because you're better than that, Natsuki. You're so much better than that." The quiet whisper was the same one that drove her into devastation before. "You've no idea how I think. What goes on inside of my head every night, how my doubts just...wash over me, and I realize how different we are."

_If the tiger shall protect her young,  
Then tell me how did you slip by.  
All my instincts have failed me for once  
I must have somehow slept the whole night._

"I think you're making yourself suffer." Natsuki said then, her eyes averting away, she couldn't dare chance a glance at the woman she loved. The pain in her voice was hard enough to hear. "That you're just afraid that I don't feel the same."

"Do you?" Shizuru asked bluntly. "Do you want me so much that you burn at merely the most gentle of touch. Do you feel as if you want to take me right where I stand, because without the warmth, you may actually lose your mind again, even at the risk of seeing the pain in the eyes of the person you love so deeply?" Memories circled in her mind often, times when Natsuki had pulled away from her, times when the brash raven girl had stormed off in anger, or in her pursuit of revenge. There were many times Shizuru had done harm, things that cut deeply, she'd never intended to inflict something so dire. "Do you love me so much, that you would let me take you to my bed, and take you in the depth of night as my own?"

"My heart will always care deeply for you." Natsuki said as she began to get dressed, letting her towel sit on the wooden bench next to her clothes. "Do I want you like all of that? The answer is no." Her eyes pinned Shizuru in place, knowing the woman of fawn tresses was about to flee away. "But, I do want you in my own ways."

Natsuki let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I want you, the only way I know how. By my side, with me, always." It may not have been as possessive, and dark, but Natsuki couldn't deny it. "You did everything in my steed. You did it to protect me, and even if it scared me, how can I not be grateful?" More than that though, Natsuki knew it was also what scared her. "But, I'm afraid I will lose you again...not like before...not like the carnival...but what if next time, something happens, and I do lose you? How would I go on, without you here?"

"Carnal desire..." Shizuru sighed, feeling her words shake. "It is twisted Natsuki...because even now, I want that."

"Shizuru..." Natsuki couldn't stand that defeated look in normally strong crimson orbs. "You can...you can feel that way..." She felt her heated cheeks flush, but she dared not pull away her gaze. "I won't tell you that you can't...even if I don't..." Slowly, she made her feet walk step by step across the room, only her bra and panties cladding her form. "I want you to be happy. I don't like seeing you cry like this..."

Shizuru was indeed letting hot tears spill from her eyes. It had been unknowingly at first, but fall they did, dripping freely, and she couldn't stop them. It was cruel how warm Natsuki's hands were upon her goose fleshed skin, her wet body numbing from the cooling air around them. Even as Natsuki gently wrapped her in a towel, and pulled Shizuru into an embrace, she could feel herself shaking. Even as quivering lips met her own, she felt as if the bitter sweet acceptance couldn't possibly be truthful. It was so much like the past.

The kiss she'd gotten after her madness. As if Natsuki's lips could cure the pain...

_And I am dreaming of them with their kill,  
Tearing it all apart,  
Blood dripping from their lips,  
And teeth sinking in to heart. _

Natsuki was unconditional, always, in times like this.

She was gentle, even when Shizuru didn't want that. She was waiting to be slapped, to be yelled at, and told she was wrong. Natsuki, she could never be so frozen. Never. Instead, she always tried to be the soft one, the gentle one, because Shizuru just couldn't be that person any more. "It wasn't just to protect you, Natsuki." Shizuru sobbed, the warmth protecting her making her fall to piece and she couldn't push herself away, not this time. "I wanted it to be, but it wasn't."

"I know." Natsuki said, her warm breath tickling Shizuru's ear. "I know, and it's okay. I told you that, remember?"

Natsuki had said that, along with a slew of other things that Shizuru didn't want to recall. She didn't dare remember all of the people who had told her she was wrong. That her love didn't belong, and that she was the one in that needed help, that she was twisted. "You've always accepted me, without even knowing how much I needed that." Shizuru said, trying to damnedest to get rid of her tears the best she could. "It hurt so much hearing what they told me, and I just-"

"Don't." Natsuki said then. "Don't stand there and beat yourself up any more. It only hurts me more." That's why she felt so guilty. She did back away, she did let others cast around their slander, and Shizuru had to endure the vexing waves of hatred as it was aimed in her direction. First, it was from Nao, then Natsuki's rejection, only to be cast aside by Haruka and Yukino. It was a downpour of rude, mean things, and all of it made Shizuru the way she was. All of it reenforced her fears now, whispers in the depths that wouldn't go away easily. "We're in a new world now, so that means even if we can't forget...we can be what ever we need to be."

But what was that exactly? What could they be for each other? What strength could they give, what power, and protection?

_And how dare that you say you will call,  
When you know I need some peace of mind...  
If you had to take sides with the animals,  
Won't you do it with one who is kind? _

"I promise you that, at the very least..." Natsuki said then, softly. Suddenly, becoming apart of this world, becoming an Otome, it made all the more sense. If only so that she could protect this beautiful woman before her with some other power, one that wouldn't risk her life every time Duran was called forth. "Take some time to calm down, and I'll help you put some new dressings on when I meet you there, okay?" Shizuru hadn't wanted to agree, but Natsuki urged her along quietly before shaking her head in exasperation. It couldn't exactly have gone better, but, it hadn't gone as bad as she had feared.

Shizuru, meanwhile, was beating herself up about things that couldn't be changed. Things that plagued her deeply. As she walked through the halls she could see the laughing faces of Otome candidates, and she wondered why, of all things, they'd want this. Why would anyone call on this power? It wasn't pretty, it wasn't elegant, it couldn't even be considered an honor. There was something disgusting about wanting to be apart of this school, and yet as sinful as it seemed, Shizuru herself felt at home. It was as if these people, among them, there could be a few just like her.

Ruthless people, with angry eyes, and a smile that mirrored the Mona Lisa. Soft, caring, even when their hearts were not. Still, even as depressing as it seemed, and the deep murky waters could not be easily waded through, Shizuru was sure...there was something redeeming about such a sight. These girls chose to serve countries, chose to become the powerful hand of judgment in times when wraith should rain down from the heavens. Perhaps, if that was the case, they were not unlike Shizuru herself. Yet, even knowing what they knew, every step in a direction that could seal their fate, they could still find some measure of happiness.

Even with such sin...

These students could smile. Kuga and Viola could get married. Women could love here, without being hated. They even condoned her hateful, murderous intentions from the past. She could live here. She could become okay here. Finally, she hoped beyond all hope, that she herself could heal all of the memories. When she thought about it like that, when she allowed herself to see the bright light of the sun, and the beaming smiles of the people around her, she realized she might not be so bad, so far down into the pit of nothingness.

Instead, she herself might have found something...a gentle serenity among her silent screams.

_If the hawks in the trees need the dead,  
If you're living you don't stand a chance.  
For a time, though you share the same bed,  
There are only two ends to this dance. _

"A bird will eat out of open palm." She told herself, trying her best to understand those words that Viola told her. "She will stay..." Shizuru hoped that was the case...that Natsuki would always stay be her side, and perhaps, grow to love her just as deeply, and beyond simple friendship...but, Natsuki confused her endlessly. In her room, she cast aside her towel and began to dress as best as she could, leaving her shirt off while she sat on her bed, waiting for Natsuki to return. When the door clicked open slowly, it wasn't without shock as Natsuki held on her hands two small boxes.

Wordlessly, she placed them on the bedside, but she didn't say what was in them. Instead, she went over to the metal cart and plucked three gauze pads, and some other supplies before going back to the bedside, looking at Shizuru carefully. "This might sting a bit, you know I'm not as good at this as you are." She would have let Shizuru do it herself, if the woman could have reached the bite mark on her side without struggle. "I want to talk to you about something...an offer that came up."

Natsuki was being nice enough not to torment her with more discussion about what had gone on in the shower, and Shizuru was thankful, so she merely nodded, as she watched Natsuki frown, trying to make things as even as possible. Not an easy task, when the gash was as long as it was, though shallow it was becoming. "You are always so kind, Natsuki."

"It's not about being kind." Natsuki muttered quickly, keeping her head down so that she could work without being embarrassed. "Anyway...this morning, before the sun came up, I got to see something really cool. Kinda sad too, but, I realized that this might be home...that it could be." What she'd been taken to see was a log of all Otome ancestry. "The first Otome ever, it was Fumi...not our Fumi, but theirs. Anyway, Kruger told me a few things...things about her and Viola...and the history of their war. She made a request...one I think we may want to take."

Her eyes glanced over to the two little boxes again as she tapped the final piece of gauze to Shizuru's side. "There have been a few bad times, where they haven't been able to utilize their robes. They implemented a back up system, but if that were to ever get out, and apparently that's had a few close calls too, they'd have no way to protect themselves. Kruger wants to be able to call upon Duran, if that were to ever happen again, and Viola wants to make a pack with Kiyohime. In return, we can become one of them, live our lives here at Garderobe, take missions, and become apart of this world."

"They have no idea the sins they're going to be accepting, do they?" Shizuru asked then. "They could lose everything, is that a chance they're willing to take?"

"I'd like to believe that they know the risks, likely far better than we ever did." At least, that's what Natsuki wanted to believe. "They chose to accept their power as authority. Sometimes, they need more of it. Kruger knows what will happen if they fail, but, considering an Otome vows their life in the first place, if something like that were to happen, without Duran or Kiyohime around..."

_You can flee with your wounds just in time,  
Or lie there as he feeds,  
Watching yourself ripped to shreds  
And laughing as you bleed. _

"They'd likely be facing death in the face anyway." Shizuru knew that implication well, at least. The invitation to belong hadn't slipped past her, and inwardly, she wondered if Natsuki wanted that too. If she wished to be welcomed with arms wide open, and never cast aside again. "Is that what you want, Natsuki?" Shizuru asked, her eyes begging to be seen, as she turned Natsuki's pale face to meet her own. "To become apart of this world?"

"Who better to understand us?" Natsuki didn't have any better ideas anyway. "If you think it's a good idea...we can, Shizuru. I want us to find a place to belong, and..."

"We can do that here." Shizuru agreed slowly.

"Viola chose this one for you." Natsuki said, picking up one of the little boxes, handing it to Shizuru.

Inside was an earring as deep as her own eyes, perhaps even darker. The square of paper expertly folded underneath the lid was perhaps the most curious piece of the gift. "The Vampiric Crimson Siam." Shizuru read aloud, her eyes twinkling in understanding. "Let this stone drink away your sins, bathed both in blood and in fire." She folded the note and put it back, biting her lip, and looking back at Natsuki. "They really want us to join, don't they?"

"I'm sure they do. The one Kruger gave me, she said only to open it if I felt ready to serve under oath." Natsuki hadn't opened her box, but she already knew what's inside. "The Frozen Indicolite, is what she called it. Said that it matched my eyes."

"This is going to be incredibly dangerous, you do realize this, correct?" Shizuru sighed, shaking her head. "If we do this...Natsuki, we're still HiME at our core..."

"That's fine." Natsuki said honestly. "That mean's we can't be reckless. We'll have other lives to worry about now. So that means that we can't get stupid. I'll be tied to Kruger, and you'll be tied to Viola...and they'll both be tied to Duran and Kiyohime. Think about it like a blood pact, between all of us..."

_So for those of you falling in love,  
Keep it kind, keep it good, keep it right.  
Throw yourself in the midst of danger,  
But keep one eye open at night._

Shizuru smirked a little, only the briefest flutter of her lips. "And what, if I may ask, are the conditions of such a promise?"

Natsuki shook her head. "Does it really matter? If we live on, we do so together...and if we don't...I'll see you on the other side of oblivion, we won't ever have to be alone...never again."

It was with agreement that they both took their boxes and held them in their hands. There wasn't any telling where this would take them, but, Shizuru knew Natsuki was right. It was their chance, this place had room for them, had reasons to need them. How could she refuse such a prospect, as blind, welcomed acceptance.

Shizuru Fujino had always longed for such a thing, from friends, family...everyone.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: The next installment of this was a long time coming, and I'm sorry I didn't update sooner. I honestly just didn't want to continue it without some sort of plan in place for this storyline. Having my time occupied with other projects, and real life, gave me enough of a reason to put it off. I kept it simmering on the back burner for a while, mulled over the characters, what path they might logically take. While this chapter is so much shorter than the other two that it's alarming, that's merely because I wasn't cooped up anyplace long enough to write another saga chapter.

Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

That said this will be back to being updated as inspiration hits me, since I've finally found some of it back.

**Chapter 3**

Accepting the proposal to become an Otome had been the easy part...the choice a comfortable weight that settled over them quite simply. Though, truth be told, the actual infusion was a bit more complicated. They were not like normal girls, and needed nearly double of the usual amount. It was odd, but not unheard of, though it did bring forth particular concerns. Natsuki gulped again as she realized the room was actually quite a bit warmer than it should be, and she bit her lip when her mind once again played dirty tricks on her.

She needed to stop ogling the woman who had been napping nearby. Shizuru's top two buttons had been unfastened, and the creamy flesh under the white shirt was teasing her. Had the woman been awake, Natsuki knew she would have been blasted with an onslaught of teasing. Now though, Shizuru Fujino remained unaware of Natsuki's prying eyes.

Several days of nano infusions, and now, Natsuki was beginning to feel renewed, perhaps even reborn in a way. She'd felt more calm, and relaxed, something that was not part of her daily routine. She felt as if there were no point for her to be on her guard, as if the machines were rebuilding her very core foundation. Fight or flight waned a bit, into something more deadly, and the few times she'd actually reacted to her environment, she realized she was not going to be a normal Otome. She could materialize her robe without her GEM, and had begun to do it by accident a few times.

Her body was strong enough to kill the little machines off, and within her blood there was a war within her very genetics. The nanomachines were at her very will, even now, something both unexpected and unpredictable as a result. Still, a strange sense of calm, of belonging, had overcome her mind, as if those little erratic machines belonged within her body. That wasn't the only change she could feel, but also, she could tell her attachment for Shizuru had been growing stronger...

It also didn't help, that she'd discovered an obsessive need to be around older Otome recently. That was something that begged answers.

The nanomachines dripped into her body slowly, and as she watched each tiny droplet fall into the tube that would lead into her arm, she realized that there really wasn't any going back. She looked forward to seeing what she could do, and with Duran resting easy at her side, she found that the idea of never going home was starting to settle within her. It didn't seem so bad, when she had Duran at her side. Shizuru found herself sleepy from the several rounds of nanomachines, and Natsuki shook her head in mild amusement when Shizuru had been sleeping all day.

Natsuki Kuga...that name left behind so much, and gifted only the last reserves of truth among the inexplicable burden she'd felt...and she found that she didn't mind that her legacy would be lost to those shadows.

Still, as she looked at the little gemstone in the box, she wondered idly just how much it would hurt to actually get her ear pierced. An odd thought perhaps, but at least that was innocent, and void of the difficulties she knew she would be pondering ahead. The little stone was beautiful, but she often wondered just what gave the stone power. What was it, that made this stone something like magic? What gave this beautiful little trinket, a reason to be so powerful? Natsuki wasn't necessarily interested in the answers, but more so, in the questions she found herself eagerly pondering with excitement. It was a way to pass the time, but even that didn't move the clock fast enough.

Taking the pole of hanging fluid with her, she looked at it in a bit of confusion. She wondered if she should really be up and walking around, having been instructed to stay put. She disregarded her worries, before dragging it out of the room she and Shizuru were being kept. Natsuki had other priorities that called to her, and they had burned within her a dire need, the machines doing brutal things to her insides.

Not painful things, in fact, it was the other way around. She felt oddly giddy, and perhaps, not just a little preoccupied with conversations best left alone. The feeling was not new to her, but it was something she had always been lucky enough to experience alone, at least before. She doubted a shower would help. She didn't dare take care of it on her own, the mere idea revolting, and not just a little bit dirty.

She had someone she needed to see...someone who could deal with this matter easily.

Her trek led her to the office that she had grown to be accustom with, she always seemed to end up here, or in the abode above it. Either way, Natsuki felt herself grasping the door with a tiny bit of apprehension. She found herself on the borderline of knowing this was a bad idea, and wanting to be wrong about that fear. Still, it was, in her experience, a very bad idea to give anyone, even herself, a power to cause destruction. It was even worse when that power set alight desires Natsuki knew she was not one to keep.

Still, as she entered the room, it came as no surprise, that the principal was at her desk, looking absentmindedly at a book. One quite thick, and dusted in age. "I find this rather interesting, really." Natsuki Kruger said, not looking up from her book. "You should be happy that I've found myself interested enough to look through the records not stored in the data files." There were ruins underwater of the old high school, and it was something that had been reported by a traveling vagabond, one that was friends with the Otome who protected Windbloom. "I don't like reading, normally, but this is actually pretty neat."

There were many records during the great migration that had been lost in some way, shape, or form. There were even more that had been corrupted due to data errors, the cost of saving things onto a machine. It was unknown just how many in the world had lost track of their descendants, but Natsuki Kruger knew, her family, as well as most of the families that lived on the boarders of Freedom Nation, suffered greatly in that regard.

This information came at a price she was thankful to pay, but now, she had to relay it, and found herself struggling to do so.

"There are more books, however, locating them would be difficult. If I were to configure all of the information needed, we would be standing here for several years." The other person, rather, cyborg, that stood on the far side of the room, was both a welcome, and knowing face. "It is possible that you will never know the full truth." The monotone voice began with softness that seemed impossible for her to normally use. "The great migration took place well before my creation." Miyu didn't look as if she had changed at all, and Natsuki smiled softly at that.

"You haven't changed have you?" Natsuki Kuga hoped that was the case...that there was still one more fundamental link between this world, and the one she used to know.

"I have changed several times, I've also installed countless updates to my programming." Miyu nodded in the teen's general direction. "When I was told that you had transcended time and space, I had to find out for myself." Her curiosity didn't deceive her, and Miyu knew that something had gone horridly wrong. She couldn't understand what happened, but she knew that something had to have gone awry. "This is the Fuka you remember, however, I'm afraid that you've missed several years of evolutionary importance." That fact was perhaps the most concerning to Miyu, as she held her hat in her hand. "Here in this time, you have already reincarnated, and have grown into adult hood, Natsuki Kuga."

"How many years have passed?" The youngest in the room asked.

"I am unsure, and my memory chips cannot compute that data. The new programs that I run seem incompatible." She opened her hand, and three little squares sat idly in her palm. "I have only the new, and relevant information stored." She said, as she pointed at her head. "However, my current ward is unable to program anything. I came here, to Garderobe, in hopes that I can have my oldest memories restored." She smiled then, a sad little smile, emotions not nearly as new to her as they were back then. "I remember only fragments of the days you belong in, but that I believe, is because of Miss Alyssa, she was the first I swore to protect." There was something that lingered and she found herself unable to cry, though she wanted to do such a thing. "The golden age has not come, and, I doubt it ever will."

Miyu's entire world, her entire reason for being built, was to protect Alyssa, and it made sense Miyu would retain some of her jumbled memory, not all of it ever being completely erased. They exchanged a meaningful glance, one that told the young HiME all that she needed to know. The cyborg put her hat back atop her head, and then, reached for her cloak, stepping out of the room without any sort of farewell. That was perhaps the thing that worried the occupants in the room the most. Still, as Kuga stood there, watching the older woman behind the desk, she couldn't help but let her mind drift back to the liquid trailing into her arm.

Even now, she could feel the power surging within.

"At least the machines seem compatible." Kruger said then, her eyes looking up as she closed her book. "You accept them without issue, that's a rare thing." In fact, upon her own memory, she could recall the burning fevers and the nausea she had to endure. She tapped her fingers on her desk idly, as if thinking about the agreement. "I want you to take a look at something." Kruger said, passing over a small folder. "This is a record of our bloodline."

Kuga opened the file. "You really think, that you're my reincarnation?" She thought there would be something more difficult involved. "This doesn't seem all that hard to process. I would have thought it would be something more freaky than that."

"Not everything is as easy as it seems." Kruger said then, folding her hands on top of the desk. "Although, I doubt it really matters in the end, and I've no desire to look into it." Kruger frowned, biting her lip, fearful if this really was a good idea. "Viola will be going on a mission soon. Fujino will accompany her, you will stay with me."

"This seems rather fast, doesn't it?" Kuga said then, not thinking they'd be rushed into missions so soon.

Kruger merely chuckled and shook her head. "I know Viola is fully capable of taking care of herself, but, there have been times in the past, when she's been put in danger. She's the third column, and it's her job to help me keep the peace between all the nations, she acts as my support, and she travels often. There will come a time, soon I hope, that I will be able to pass on our legacy to both you, and your Shizuru. Until then however, you must do well to learn your roles."

The whimpering that was coming from the corner made Kuga smile softly. "Yeah, I know..." She told the metallic beast.

"What did he say?" Kruger asked then, trying to hear Duran speak actual words.

"I said, I think this is a bad idea." Most would have only heard it as the growl that it had been, but Kruger looked at him suspiciously when his voice actually found purchase in her ears a second time. "I'll do as master says, no matter what, but if we do this, we'll be right up shit creek without a paddle."

Kruger looked at the metal beast, and then back at Kuga. "That's just a bit unnerving..." She said, pointing off to the side.

"If you wish, I could just simply go back to ignoring you." He growled yet again. "I'm the embodiment of Master, so, I think, and sometimes act like Master would. We may be two different entities, but I picked Master because I wish to be like Master." He licked his paw for a moment, seemingly examining it, and then he sighed. "I promised I would help you...I will, but you will never be Master." There was a defiance in his eyes, much like Natsuki's own.

"The Child's and Orphan's from my time are literally just that." Kuga said dryly. She was surprised too, the first time she'd ever heard Duran speak. "Anyway, it's not that I think this is a bad idea...I'm just worried about this entire Otome thing." Natsuki told Duran directly. "I also wish there was something I could do for Shizuru."

"Just tell her that you love her." In his eyes, it literally was that easy. "She'll see how much Master cares, but she's being stubborn, just like that stupid snake." For as large, and powerful as he could be, he was like that of a defiant little puppy, and his voice was childlike enough, his views even more so.

"Kiyohime likes you...she just doesn't know how to show it." Kuga scoffed then, knowing how much Duran hated Kiyohime and her idea of affection.

"She tries to constrict me every time she sees me!" That was a yelp...a high pitched, annoying, yelp. "Idiot snake...always toying with me."

"Sounds like Shizuru to me." Kruger said then. "Both of them." With a chuckle she tried to put things back on track. "In any case, you won't have to use your robe for this mission, it's purely diplomatic. However, I think it's important that you go, you'll need to learn your way around things, and I feel this is the best way to do it." In the meantime however, there were more pressing issues at hand. She could tell the teen in front of her had endured some rough waters, and while the life of an Otome wasn't easy, it was also a reprieve from her past...something that was still an interest even in passing. "So, did that little plan of yours work at all?"

Natsuki's eyes drifted to the floor at that, her sigh something resigned, as she searched for an answer within the little threads of carpet on the floor. She knew she'd find none. "I don't know." Natsuki wondered that very same question. "Shizuru's not the type to let go of things easily. Even if she were, I'd fear for her. She's not like other girls, she isn't that shallow enough. She can't just forget everything that's happened."

"Life goes on, I'm proof of that." Kruger said then standing from her desk. "I am you, and you are some version of me. What Miyu tells me, is enough to convince me." She was slow as she approached the young woman, and as their eyes shared the same color emerald, their minds both staggered at that knowledge. "We may differ in our personality, but not in fate."

Kuga shook her head at that, not wanting to hear it. "Just what the hell is in this drip?" It didn't matter one way or the other who Kruger was, or what importance she'd had. Whatever life, or soul they shared...it didn't hold a candle to life, and the air Kuga knew she was breathing. Still, her feelings didn't comfort her. "I feel like I'm a mess. Why does this keep happening to me?"

"The programming is coming back, quickly." Kruger nodded and sighed, pulling the younger girl into an embrace, letting the power of her gem calm the raging machines inside. The ring on her finger glowed, even though there was nothing to bind to the will just yet. "You are being infused with a power that dictates a particular level of authority. While it's true nanomachines and GEM's are powerful tools, a contract is needed for them to be come fully useful. Until then, they are a power without a guide. A beast without a master, so to speak. Perhaps in our own way, an Otome is little more than a well trained, human form of a HiME's child. We bark on command because our master wishes it. However, we are the ones who chose to be devoted."

"Ah, I see." Natsuki could feel the calm overwhelm her, the odd feeling of need, and unrest calming down into nothing. "Will you always need to do things like this?" There were times she had a dire need to follow around her master, times she never would have wanted to have such company.

"Not always, and normally, not when you are bound with a Meister GEM." Kruger thought about that, of why the elders always looked after the younger girls, the power was a frighting thing for most. "Before a proper contract, however, it is imperative that the elder Otome look after, and guide the younger ones. Age, power, even the bloodline or personality of the girl plays a factor. Some girls are naturally weak and submissive, or simply just find themselves unaffected, even when the machines are raging and active. Those girls are a lucky few, who don't often find an issue with their machines."

"Oh, I've got issues alright." Kuga growled.

"You will likely be different." Kruger explained as she took in the appearance of the younger woman, caught between the lines of gray that colored even the most clear cut of answers. "You will need to remain by the side of an elder Otome, until your body understands that the machines are not a threat."

Kuga flushed as she backed away from the warm embrace that was doing far more to her than she would care to admit. "This would drive me crazy, if I had to keep feeling like this all the time." She just didn't know what the feeling was. A sense of arousal perhaps? It couldn't be something so easily defined, more like, a calling, a need to be by someone who could stop the tingling madness.

"Without a GEM to control your machines, they will go haywire. Most girls don't have such strong reactions, in fact, most feel nothing at all besides illness." Natsuki Kuga, however, was not a normal teen. Kruger knew well of that, having see for her own eyes already, that Natsuki could produce the ghosting metal, without even having the GEM to complete the transformation entirely. "However, you are a HiME, and I would assume, filling your blood with this new type of power would give you a few adverse effects."

"Mild insanity must be the top one on that list." Natsuki grumbled, she hated being so reliant, but at the same time, her instinct seemed to enjoy even the mere idea of such a weakness. It was a double edged sword, and she felt slightly out of her control. "If this keeps up, I won't be able to be around Shizuru for any length of time."

"That, I assure you, is not the doing of the machines." Kruger said, she detected a bit of the scent earlier, lingering perhaps in the room the two younger girls shared. "At least, not entirely. You would need to have wished of it, for the machines to have acted upon the feeling." Arousal something she was an expert in noticing, her sense of smell much sharper than most. An acquired gift, longevity of nanomachine use something super human innately. "You must have planted that seed yourself. Tell me, does that young woman know what you think about?"

"It was a bad dream." Natsuki's voice wafted softly in a sigh. "It did things, yeah, but not in a good way. Sometimes I remember the way things used to be, and I finally see now, what I didn't see before. I think it's kinda twisted that we never really talked about it. Now, every time I think about the way she used to look at me, or tease me, I know what she was really implying. It wasn't all in good jest." She didn't know quite how to explain herself, and the feeling of inevitable trouble wasn't far behind, she knew that.

"No, perhaps it wasn't." Kruger agreed, a small smile on her face as she tousled Natsuki's hair, making a mess of it. "But, for the two of you, everything is still child's play. Even if you were to romp around in the bed here or there, I doubt it would be earth shattering, home field advantage is just wishful thinking."

"But no matter if I was thinking about that stuff or not before, it was never this bad." Natsuki said softly in a shaky sigh. "I can't seem to make it go away right now."

"It will ebb, once you have a GEM to control the machines. It could just be, they're causing you to want to submit to the forces you already know are there." Kruger said with almost certainty. "You know she wants you, it wouldn't be unheard of for the machines to give you the push you need. If you feel strongly, your machines will react to that strength. There are some GEM's that have a secondary power, or rather, a stronger, burst method of fire. In order to harness that true power, one would need a lot of emotional reserves."

"That doesn't explain you." Natsuki bit out, causing Kruger to nod, understanding the implication.

"It does...I'm an older Otome, and one with a GEM. The machines will recognize that, and will seek me out, if you are unable to control your power. The...urge you feel...is likely a defense from the machines. They're telling your body to feel a particular way, so that they can meet a requirement. In this case, you're finally coming to seek out my help. Your body has now been programed to find me, if the machines act-out. It's a defense many coral students, who are not bound by pure contracts also endure. That's why Otome bonding can be so important, to keep the machines in check...some of us just choose to deal with them in more inappropriate ways."

"After I receive the Meister GEM?" Natsuki wondered that, skeptical at best.

"With you being a HiME on top of being an Otome, I'm not entirely sure." Kruger finally said. "The feelings could get stronger, or they'll go away entirely, just like they should. It's different for everyone. It will be my job to control the machines inside of you, I have to make them submit to the will of my voice, and of my own personal power, hence the contract. If you need more than that, I would not be opposed. It is a possibility, although, you should have expected something so primal, given what you are."

…  
(Shizuru Fujino POV)

The changes in Otome and HiME are very different...they seem to respond to cause and effect adversely.

A HiME is an obsessive, dominate power. One made to become the ruler of the new world. One could almost say, the carnival is a mating dance, where the women who is actually the strongest, wins. The dominate princess, the winning HiME, creates the new world with the obsidian prince. Becoming the queen, to do his bidding, giving rise to his whims. He does not have to be a most important person. He needs not, any loyalty. He requires merely, a woman to offer herself blindly, and sexually, to his desires.

When one thinks of a HiME that way, it becomes clear that HiME are dominate women by nature. Understanding that, we can further understand why we did what we did.

The aggressiveness and obsessiveness not withstanding, even someone as soft spoken as Yukino, proved her part to play. She didn't need to be a dominate persona, but then again, look at the person most important for her, and clearly, that would be why. Still, her emotionally weak nature, passive by default, was ultimately her undoing. I would have hated to see what her cunning wit, would have dished out. Yukino, if she had it within her, would have been a very powerful opponent.

A HiME, dominate in both power, and personality, would always win...and, eventually, their most important person, would stand along side of them. Thus, it takes three people to make the new world, not two...A flaw, perhaps, on Reito's part. He didn't see that.

Otome on the other hand, are a submissive power. They react when told to react. They fight when requested, to protect the person who shares their life force. Ironically, this union, again requires very little to sustain the power. The person does not require importance, they do not need gratification like the HiME do. The Otome must offer undying loyalty, but have a freedom within that to act out, and defy their master. It seems, the strongest of world leaders are ones who carry friendships, or bonds of love for the Otome that serve them. Successful Otome are not forced, it is ultimately their will to do the bidding that they do...following their master's orders.

The strongest of those I've heard of, seem not only of friendship, but of profound hardship. Sharing in worst of days, rejoicing in the best of nights. Victory and defeat carried as a burden together, not apart.

So, what happens when the two powers join into one?

We've become in a way, test subjects for that little question.

My powers were obsessive by nature. Beyond a fault, a fixation. Kiyohime, my child, isn't only dominate in nature, it's spiteful, angry. A beautiful, deadly creature. The fact that she has many faces, a testament to her difficulty. She is a lonely creature, because she is meant to be solitary. Snakes and other reptilian animals do not live with others. She knows nothing of truth, all six heads a different personality, and it all seems to mingle. It is a difficulty to learn which voice is which. When the sly, and most cunning of the heads become quiet, and the wrathful one speaks. All of them are very different, seeing things differently, saying things differently.

I found that with the machines, they acted more as stability than anything. A pounding desire to force Natsuki into some form of relationship scared me, because in the back of my mind, whispers told me to do it. They're gone now. As if, for whatever reason, the machines are quelling the nature behind the best.

Natsuki also seems different, though it makes sense, Natsuki's power was also an embodiment of herself.

Though Duran may be a wolf, wolves are not solitary creatures by nature. Though a single one may travel alone for a while, especially if it is aggressive, wolves are not meant to survive alone. Eventually they will become pray for stronger creatures, if they do not find a new pack to live with, even if they merely stay on the outskirts, nibbling at scraps left behind. Natsuki was the same in many ways, and would have let herself fall into madness, if it had not been for others.

She is the epitome of a lone wolf, she would not stay solitary forever.

Back home she was surrounded by the new warmth. Mai, Mikoto, and I, were only a few of the people she began to claim she needed to have around. She seemed to adopt Nao as a younger sister of sorts, almost acting as a mentor...and when you think of it like that, it was only a matter of time. Natsuki needs others, she can't be happy living alone. She requires a group environment, one with a social system. She's been acting strange, looking at me with an odd glaze in her eyes. She also avoids me, sometimes, and will hover around Natsuki Kruger for hours on end.

It's the call of the machines...I've been spending equal amounts of time with my counterpart, Viola.

I can only wait as these machines drip into me, to understand what this power is truly capable of. I think, if anything noticeable happens, it will be more on Natsuki's part than mine. Her machines demand more attention, and I wonder, just what that could mean for her...and inadvertently what truth that will tell me.

…

"I think, it would be within your best interest to tread lightly around that girl." Shizuru Viola said as she began to pour some tea. "I don't think she would make the best of friends for you...and while you wish to help her, I feel as if the more time we invest with them, the more likely they will reject us."

"She requires my attention, I can't do much about that." Kruger chuckled then, accepting the warm, inviting lips that nipped playfully at her own. A teasing little moment something sought after, the day had been long. "Your girl is responding better than mine is. It seems as if Kuga is feeling a more personal pull. She hadn't expected to feel so strongly."

"Oh no, not at all." Viola said then softly, a tiny smirk on her face, something filled with conspiracy. "You see, they both expected it, knew it would probably happen. However, from what I understand, Natsuki is acting out in her normal way, she's just beings more, overt shall we say, about needing your attention. It seems as if your little Kuga has been acting as a deer in headlights."

"About that..." Kruger had noticed already. "I think it's time we think about separating them for a while. They need to learn to accept us fully, to understand that's it's alright to come to us for anything. I fear that a Meister GEM won't be enough to contain Kuga's power...she's already showing signs of needing a stronger support."

"That girl has always needed a stronger support." Viola said softly, realizing for not the first time how abandoned the teen had been, for her entire life. "She's had no one to guide her, no one to rely on but herself. Fujino is a wild card, and not a dependable woman. Kuga can not trust blindly a woman who could lose her emotions so easily. I'd like to think, if they were back home, they'd have the support and friendships they'd need to eventually come around full circle. Here however, I doubt that will be the case."

Kruger simply shook her head. "I still have faith in them. It will just take more from us than I first realized. Tomorrow, after they get their ears pierced, I honestly think you should take Fujino with you, while I keep Kuga here."

"You'd be playing with fire." Viola said then, almost feeling sorry for the girls. "I agree, they have much to learn, but I don't think it's the best way."

Kruger only sighed at that. "When you leave me, I get lonely. I know you go away for months on end sometimes, and I don't know when you'll come home." She licked her lips, and leaned in for a kiss that was both needy and troubling. Even if it could last forever, it would not be long enough. "I have to wait in limbo, Shizuru. I have to have faith that you will be strong enough to return from your missions unscathed. That is faith they don't have within each other. They feel they must protect one another. It will eat them alive. They must learn to trust...to go away, yet always return. It's our job to train them, to condition that thought within them."

"I still don't know if I like that idea." Viola said truthfully. "They would be so lonely if we separated them."

"I hate it." Kruger scowled as she gulped down her tea. "We don't have to like it, we just have to do it."

"Just like our own missions." Viola could agree with that much, but as she melted into a warm embrace, and a burning kiss, she couldn't imagine living any other way. Absence made the heart grow founder, the burning needs in her core a raging fire. They never had time to take things for granted, to throw away emotions they would need to say. Perhaps, she relented, it was best for them. That singular truth as law, even as her shirt it the floor, that judgement was made final.

There was no other way to teach them, and to set alight the path of an Otome.


End file.
